About Hillary

The promise of America was very real as Hillary was growing up. She learned that no matter who you are or where you're from, if you worked hard and played by the rules, you could provide a good life for your family.

Hillary's father, Hugh Rodham, was the son of a factory worker from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He trained sailors in the Navy during World War II and then returned to Illinois to start a small business selling draperies. He taught Hillary both a deep sense of patriotism and a strong belief in fiscal responsibility. He never took a dime of credit and was so frugal that he used to turn the heat off overnight during the winter to save money, waking up early to turn it back on so the house would be warm when everyone woke up.

Hillary's mother, Dorothy, the daughter of a firefighter, had a tough childhood. Her parents were young and felt unable to care for their children. So when Dorothy was just eight, she and her three-year-old sister traveled alone on a four-day train ride to Los Angeles. There they were raised by a strict grandmother. It was not until Dorothy was a teenager and worked as a helper to another family that she finally knew what a loving family could be. The stories of her mother's difficult childhood imbued in Hillary a fierce sense of justice and a belief that no child should be mistreated and that every child deserves to be loved.

The life that Hugh and Dorothy created for Hillary and her two brothers was a classic 1950s middle-class suburban childhood. Park Ridge in those days was the kind of place where everyone left their doors unlocked and the neighborhood kids all played on the block together. Hillary was a Brownie and then a Girl Scout. She started her political life as a Republican, like her father. She even volunteered as a Goldwater girl!

Faith was central to her family. Her mother taught Sunday school, and Hillary was a regular in her church youth group. She was deeply influenced by her youth minister who taught her about "faith in action." There were trips to the inner city, babysitting for the children of migrant farm workers, and an extraordinary night when Hillary was fourteen and her youth group went to hear a speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

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