Hillary Rodham Clinton

On Women

Matthew Royal

"The reservoirs of goodwill we built around the world during the 20th century will not last forever. In fact, in some places, they are already dangerously depleted. New generations of young people do not remember GIs liberating their countries or Americans saving millions of lives from hunger and disease."

In order to be a better-educated voter this Fall, I decided to read something written by the major candidates running for U.S. President. This (short) piece was based on a speech Hillary Clinton gave early in her career as Secretary of State. Unsurprisingly, it echoes the high points of her famous remarks as First Lady at the Fourth Women's Conference in Beijing, China. From this perspective, it lacks information about her specific domestic policies, but paints her as being informed and thinking rationally about the world.

From a western perspective, it's an uncontroversial declaration of rights -- the right to inherit, the right to be educated, the right to the courts when injured by others. With a few remarks tacked to the end about climate change and economics, this is a message that would receive strong bi-partisan support in the U.S., were the source anonymous. 

My personal takeaway is a better understanding of the state of women's rights around the world -- not great, but improving -- and an insight into Clinton's optimistic foreign relations worldview: our position isn't inevitable, and it's not forever, but we can preserve our power and influence by continuing to apply our intelligence and compassion as we have in the past.