CHICAGO—Hillary Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to urge delegates to support Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid to become the first woman to serve as President of the United States.
Clinton, 76, was the first woman to gain a major party’s nomination for president. The former First Lady, who went on to serve two terms as a senator from New York and as U.S. Secretary of State, lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump.
Reflecting on that outcome in her Aug. 19 remarks, Clinton said, “Together, we put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest, glass ceiling, and tonight ... tonight, we’re so close to breaking through.”
She added, “On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris, raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States.”
Clinton began her 20-minute remarks by honoring President Joe Biden, whose sudden withdrawal from the race catapulted Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket.
“He has been democracy’s champion at home and abroad,” Clinton said. “Thank you, Joe Biden, for your lifetime of service and leadership.”
Biden was considered a likely candidate for the presidency in 2016 but chose not to run, citing the recent death of his son Beau as the deciding factor.
Clinton framed her endorsement of Harris as a step forward for women and for the nation. “We are writing a new chapter in America’s story,” Clinton said.
The former first lady traced the rise of women in presidential politics from Shirley Chisholm, the New York congresswoman who became the first black candidate to run for a major party’s nomination and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972.
Clinton said, “In 1984, I brought my daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated for Vice President,” speaking of the New York congresswoman who ran for the office in 1994.
“And then, there was 2016 when it was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for president,” Clinton added.
On election day, Clinton led by 46 to 42 percent in an average of national polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight.
Clinton won the popular vote by 2.1 percent but Trump carried 304 of 538 electoral votes.
“The story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible but not guaranteed,” Clinton said. “We have to fight for it and never, ever give up.”
