A woman of firsts
 |  Sen. Hillary Clinton |
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 Sen. Hillary Clinton talks to Larry
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NAME: Hillary Rodham Clinton
BORN: October 26, 1947
BIRTHPLACE: Chicago, Illinois
(CNN) -- Hillary Clinton is a woman of many firsts.
In 1978, she became first lady of Arkansas when her husband, Bill Clinton, was elected governor. She became the nation's first lady in 1993, when Clinton became the 42nd president of the United States.
Then, on November 7, 2000, she became the first sitting first lady to win elected office when she defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio for the open U.S. Senate seat from New York.
Clinton's legal background paved the way for her political career. A graduate of Wellesley College and Yale University law school, she was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America in 1987 and 1991 by The National Law Journal.
She has also written several books. Her latest, "Living History," focused on her time in the White House and has sold more than 1.5 million hardcover copies in the United States, 200,000 of those in its first day, according to publisher Simon & Schuster.
