This speech, Women and Public Leadership, was part of the lecture series Because Politics Matters in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Eagleton Institute of Politics and the 35th anniversary of Eagleton's Center for American Women and Politics. The event was held at the Nicholas Music Center of Rutgers University.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has represented the state of New York in the U.S. Senate since she was elected on November 7, 2000. She is the first First Lady of the United States elected to public office and the first woman elected independently statewide in New York State.

Senator Clinton serves on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee; the Special Committee on Aging; and she is the first New Yorker ever to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She has sponsored or coauthored a wide variety of legislation during her time in the Senate, including expanding health benefits to members of the National Guard and Reserves, ensuring the safety of prescription drugs for children, and increasing U.S. commitment to fighting the global AIDS epidemic.

Senator Clinton is the author of several best selling books that include her autobiography, Living History; It Takes A Village: and Other Lessons Children Teach Us; Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets; and An Invitation to the White House, as well as numerous articles.

She is a candidate for the 2008 presidential election.