"Forgiveness is an ongoing effort and challenge, and it is something that I think about and engage in nearly every day."

Since entering the White House, first lady Hillary Clinton has faced scandal, criticism and praise for her conflicting roles as career woman, mother, politician and wronged wife. She has changed the role of first lady and is now considering a bid for the U.S. Senate.

Born in 1947, Hillary Diane Rodham was raised in a conservative family near Chicago. She graduated high school in 1965 in the top 5 percent of her class and entered Wellesley College, where she graduated in 1969 as valedictorian. In the upheavals of the 1960s, she reconsidered her conservative beliefs and volunteered in the 1968 presidential campaign of Democrat Eugene McCarthy.

Hillary Rodham met Bill Clinton as students at Yale Law School, after which Clinton returned to Arkansas and Rodham moved to Washington to work with the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). She was soon hired to work with the U.S. House committee investigating President Nixon's role in the Watergate scandal.

After Nixon's resignation, Rodham joined Clinton in Arkansas to teach law, and they were married in 1975. Clinton was elected attorney general in 1976, and Hillary Rodham -- she kept her maiden name -- joined the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock. In 1980, she gave birth to the couple's only child, Chelsea.

In 1978, Clinton began his first term as governor of Arkansas, but he lost his 1980 re-election bid. As a result, Rodham adopted her husband's last name and a more sophisticated image. In 1982, Clinton regained the governor's office. During his 10 years as governor, Clinton's wife continued at the Rose Law Firm, served on the CDF board, and worked to reform the state's education system. The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America in both 1987 and 1991.

After Clinton won the presidency in 1992, he appointed his wife to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. Although an unprecedented role for the nation's first lady, her comprehensive proposal failed to gain congressional approval.

Continuing to use her position to help others, Hillary Clinton has traveled extensively to promote the rights of women and children. Her 1996 book, "It Takes A Village," focused on society's role in children's lives.

In 1993, the Clintons were put under investigation for their involvement in a failed Arkansas savings and loan association and a 1978 real estate investment with the Whitewater Development Corporation. As the investigation continued in 1996, Hillary Clinton became the only first lady ever to be called to testify before a grand jury.

Since Bill Clinton's first campaign for the White House, allegations of his infidelity have continued to bring the couple's personal life into the public eye -- most prominently in 1998, when Clinton was impeached by the House following his affair with a White House intern. Throughout the scandals, Hillary Clinton remained composed and supportive of her husband, a stance that brought both criticism and admiration from millions.

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