On Sunday afternoon, as foreshadowed on Friday, former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that she will run for US president in 2016.
The announcement was made via a 3-minute video, and was followed by announcements on Twitter and calls from her staff to political organisers across the country to get her campaign under way.
“I’m running for president,” Clinton says to camera at the end of the video.
“Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion.”
“So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote — because it’s your time. And I hope you’ll join me on this journey.”
Her campaign will focus on issues of gender equality, marriage equality, improved family policies, and inclusive economic policies to level the playing field.
The video depicts Americans preparing for childbirth, preparing to send their children to school, preparing to build their businesses, preparing to return to work after having children, preparing to marry a same sex partner, and preparing for retirement.
“Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favour of those at the top,” Clinton says.
Clinton says she wants to champion everyday Americans “so you can get ahead, and stay ahead.”
“When families are strong, America is strong.”
The announcement follows months of speculation about whether Clinton will make her second presidential bid after losing the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008 and deciding to support rather than challenge him in 2012.
Clinton shied away from gender issues during her 2008 presidential bid, but appears to have decided to embrace gender equality as a cornerstone of her second campaign.
Is America about to get its first ever female president? It’s too early to tell but if it does it’s safe to say equality, and particularly gender equality, will be on Clinton’s agenda. Empowering women has been a subject and an issue Hillary Clinton has focused on for years. Here are 10 reasons a Hillary Clinton presidency would be good for women.
- “Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely — and the right to be heard.” United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, September 1995.
- “There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard. There cannot be true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility fortheir own lives. There cannot be true democracy unless all citizens are able to participate fully in the lives of their country.” Keynote Address at the Vital Voices Conference in Vienna, Austria, July 1997
- “Too many women in too many countries speak the same language, of silence…” Living History
- “We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. That is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential.” Excerpt from ‘It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us’, January 1996
- “From now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.” Concession speech following 2008 primary elections, June 2008
- “Whether I am meant to or not, I challenge assumptions about women. I do make some people uncomfortable, which I’m well aware of, but that’s just part of coming to grips with what I believe is still one of the most important pieces of unfinished business in human history — empowering women to be able to stand up for themselves.” Interview in People Magazine, December 1992
- “It is past time for women to take their rightful place, side by side with men, in the rooms where the fates of peoples, where their children’s and grandchildren’s fates, are decided.” Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey Dinner, April 2003
- “Laws and traditions that hold back women, hold back entire societies” at the fourth annual Women in the World Summit, Apr. 5, 2013
- “I have met thousands and thousands of pro-choice men and women. I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is not being pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is trusting the individual to make the right decision for herself and her family, and not entrusting that decision to anyone wearing the authority of government in any regard.” Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 1999
- “There’s that kind of double bind that women find themselves in. On the one hand, yes, be smart, stand up for yourself. On the other hand, don’t offend anybody, don’t step on toes, or you’ll become somebody that nobody likes because you’re too assertive.” Midwest Today, June 1994