Women and Public Leadership

New York Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is the first First Lady of the United States elected to public office and the first woman elected independently statewide in New York State. She serves on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging, and she is the first New Yorker ever to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Clinton is a graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School. The annual Mary Louise Smith Chair brings nationally renowned political leaders, scholars and activists to Iowa State to enrich the experiences of students and educate citizens about the role of women in the political process. Every woman who has sought the Republican or Democratic Party nomination for president since 1995, when the chair was established, has served as this distinguished lecturer. The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics Fall 2007 Mary Louise Smith Chair.

The transcript of Senator Clinton's speech follows under "Learn more."