Hillary Clinton

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Hillary Clinton is President Barack Obama's Secretary of State.

Prior to taking a job in the Obama administration, Clinton spent about a year and a half fighting against him for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 race for president. The two engaged in a protracted primary battle until June 2008, when Obama gained enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee, forcing Clinton to drop out of the race and endorse him. Despite her defeat, Clinton did make an enormous impact on presidential politics — she won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate had in the past.

Born in Chicago in 1947, Clinton first captured the media's attention in 1969 when she was featured in "Life" magazine for the commencement speech she delivered as student body president at Wellesley.

Two years later, she met Bill Clinton while both were attending law school at Yale.The couple moved to Arkansas, married in 1975 and had their first and only child, Chelsea, in 1980. In 1992, she became First Lady of the United States following her husband's victory over Republican George H.W. Bush and Independent Ross Perot. As one of the most active First Ladies in the country's history, she stirred controversy for serving as head and chairwoman of the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, a capacity in which she oversaw a proposal that failed to garner enough votes in either the House or the Senate.

In 1992, TIME featured her on its cover as "The Other Clinton." She has since appeared on TIME's cover 24 times, more than any other woman in the magazine's history. During the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998, Clinton inspired praise and protest for refusing to denounce her husband's indiscretions.

In 2000, she became the first First Lady of the United States to become an elected official when she defeated Republican House Representative Rick Lazio for New York's open Senate seat, despite the fact that she barely qualified as a resident of New York state.

In January 2007 Clinton announced her candidacy for president on her website saying, "I'm in, and I'm in to win." She didn't, but not long after Obama's election the following year, he announced her as his nominee for Secretary of State. She had a swift confirmation process and offically took office January 21, 2009.

—By M.J. Stephey and Katie Rooney