I was still on a fabulous Girl Power high from the DNC on Tuesday night, still reeling from all of the powerful women unapologetically playing their fabulous “woman cards” as they came together to honor not just Clinton herself, but the progress she has now made for women everywhere.
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But it was her husband – former president Bill Clinton – who appeared on many newspaper covers the following morning, after speaking on her behalf Tuesday night.
Hillary Clinton, first woman to win the presidency!
There was no shortage of history made on Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention: Hours after Hillary Clinton became the first female major-party nominee, Bill Clinton delivered the first convention speech from a would-be “first gentleman,” offering a heartfelt account of his life with the woman he first met at Yale Law School in 1971.
Making Bill Clinton a special emissary to coal country or the inner city is one thing, but former first lady Clinton learned the hard way that first spouses should never be put exclusively in charge of anything.
USA TODAY looked through the Newseum’s archive of front pages and found more examples of the former president taking Clinton’s moment.
– kelsey mckinney (@mckinneykelsey) July 27, 2016Husbands are important!
And, says Anthony, even though a male person as first spouse would be unprecedented, the fact that Bill Clinton has been in the White House before could make his new role not so big a change after all.
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesMIAMI, FL – JULY 23: Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Democratic vice presidential candidate U.S. Sen. “You nominated the real one”.
Or a photo of the thousands of women in attendance celebrating, or the women on stage? Sidelined by Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, Mr. Clinton went rogue and started lashing out at Barack Obama.
Clearly, the only viable photo from the evening was one of Bill Clinton.
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But the steps Clinton aides are planning to shape his new life do little to address a potentially thornier problem: Historically, when Bill Clinton does not have a job to do, he gets into trouble. And nope, that’s just not OK. She sees him as her most trusted confidant and sounding board on national security issues and the economy, advisers say; one recalled a recent golf outing where Bill Clinton received several phone calls and emails from his wife before reaching the 14th hole. Hillary Clinton has given it some thought. “He is uniquely qualified to be her consigliere, and I think it would thrill him because intellectually he is always restless and engaged”.
