Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Yay, Hillary, and Joe!

Thanks to my friend Katherine for the link to this article at the Caucus (NY Times) reporting Hillary Clinton's first public speaking engagement on the topic of - what else - women's rights.

Joe Biden also spoke at the event, and I was moved by the exchange of compliments between Joe and Hillary, who are longtime friends and allies on behalf of women.

NY Times journalist Peter Baker writes:

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton made her public debut in her new role as prospective presidential candidate on Tuesday night by returning to the issue that has animated her long career on the national stage — the empowerment of women around the globe.

In her first public appearance since stepping down as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton addressed a ceremony honoring women who have stood up as leaders in places like Brazil, Cambodia, Somalia and the Palestinian territories. She used the occasion to cement what she considers a central legacy of her four years as the nation’s top diplomat.

“When I became secretary of state, I was determined to weave this perspective into the fabric of American foreign policy,” Mrs. Clinton told an audience of movers and shakers at the Kennedy Center. She recalled appointing the first ambassador for global women’s rights, directing the diplomatic corps to focus on gender issues and stepping in to free a Cambodian woman jailed for protesting. “We did put women on the agenda and made it a centerpiece of all that we did.”

It was an evening without overt politics and yet Mrs. Clinton’s appearance drew attention as she enters a period of deciding whether to run for president again in 2016. Freed of her official duties and her position in President Obama’s cabinet, Mrs. Clinton began re-establishing herself as an independent figure. Her remarks were in keeping with her longstanding passions but many in the audience were rooting for her to make one more campaign to become the nation’s first female president.

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