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1. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the first feminist First Lady, meaning the first First Lady who came of age during the feminist revival and embraced the movement - and the label - unambiguously. Eight years in the White House also made her one of America's leading Democrats and one of the world's most famous women. Yet before and during her White House years, Mrs. Clinton - along with so many of her female peers - struggled to balance tradition and change, family and career, her head and her heart, her yearnings to be a genderless citizen of the world and her identity as a woman. Here, in 1999, finally comfortable with herself and her image, the First Lady participates in a photo shoot for the White House Entertaining Book - not the kind of activity the cartoon version of the feminist First Lady would partake in, but very much part of Mrs. Clinton's definition of the role. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

2. Central to Hillary Rodham Clinton's identity confusion was her operatic relationship with her husband Bill Clinton. The Clinton marriage was remarkably progressive, given Bill Clinton's tremendous respect for his wife's intellect and their remarkable synchronicity on so many work projects. Yet in the way Hillary Clinton subordinated so much of her identity to serve her husband's career, and in Bill Clinton's pathological need to stray, their marriage was also tragically sexist and unbalanced. Here in the East Room in July, 1996, as so frequently during their White House years, the President and First Lady demonstrate the kind of intimacy that made Hillary Clinton one of the Clinton Administration's most formidable figures. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

3. After a conventional 1950s upbringing, and her stint as a "Goldwater Girl" in 1964, Hillary Rodham plunged into the Sixties maelstrom during her Wellesley College and Yale Law School years. Still, she remained a product of her Puritanical, Methodist roots. She met Bill Clinton at Yale Law School. As this January 1972 photograph from New Haven shows, his bushy beard and Mountain Man look, her heavy dark glasses and Plain Jane look, were part of the era's uniform - and would feed later criticisms of them as radical "McGoverniks." COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

4. To the dismay of many of her friends and relatives, Hillary Rodham followed her heart - and her boyfriend - down to Arkansas after graduating from Yale Law School, then working for the Congressional committee investigating Richard Nixon. After marrying in 1975 Hillary Rodham - who kept her last name -- found herself frustrated by life in Arkansas and often eclipsed by her husband's career, as in this picture from Bill Clinton's swearing-in as the youngest elected governor of Arkansas - and the nation, on January 9, 1979. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

5. The Arkansas First Lady who maintained her maiden name, became a partner at the Rose Law Firm, and refused, Sixties Style, to take on the Southern Belle look, proved to be most unconventional and highly controversial. Despite facing mounting criticism, the Clintons nobly refused to exploit for political gain the birth of their long awaited daughter, Chelsea Victoria Clinton, in March, 1980. By November 1980, Bill Clinton was the youngest ex-governor in the land. For the comeback run two years later, Hillary took her husband's last name, and began the first in a series of image makeovers. Somewhat disingenuously, she dismissed the whole last name brouhaha by insisting, "it was more important to them" - the Arkansas voters - "than it was to me." COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

6. The 1992 president run was supposed to be a campaign of sweet vindication, an opportunity to leave Arkansas' smothering provincialism, and shine on the national stage Hillary Clinton preferred. But it turned into a searing campaign, as controversies festered over Bill Clinton's Vietnam era draft finagling, his compulsive philandering, and a little investment in vacation properties known as Whitewater. Here, Hillary Clinton defends her husband on "60 Minutes: right after the Super Bowl in January, 1992. Characteristically, she described what she was doing as she denied doing it - and offended millions of women in the process, when she huffed: "I'm not some little woman standing by her man like Tammy Wynette." Cracks like these about a country singer many lower-class women admired made many perceive Hillary Rodham Clinton as a yuppie feminist, representing the worst of the Sixties and the worst of the Eighties. In fact, Mrs. Clinton was struggling to synthesize her traditional background and Puritanical Methodism with the progressive faith and idealism of the 1960s, while remaining relevant in the 1980s and 1990s. CREDIT: AP/WORLDWIDE PHOTOS

7. While insisting on what they would call a "zone of privacy," the Clintons felt compelled to trot out their daughter Chelsea so voters would not think of them as a childless - and soulless - power couple. Here, at the Democratic National Convention, held in New York, in August 1992, the Clintons begin trying to navigate the one-way street they desired, wherein they expose what they wished of their private lives, while discouraging prying reporters from violating their privacy when it was not convenient. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

8. Despite the troubles, the Clintons captured the White House. Together with the new Vice President and his wife, Al and Tipper Gore, -- shown here in 2001, at the end of their administration -- the Clintons viewed their ascent as the arrival of the baby boomers, and the changing of the generational guard. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

9. While Democrats delighted in their new, hip, young leaders, Hillary Rodham Clinton became a lightning rod for conservative concerns that the Clintons were too countercultural. In drawing criticism that otherwise might have hit her husband, Mrs. Clinton was unhappily fulfilling a role some of her predecessors had filled, especially, Mary Todd Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nancy Reagan. Even the Jackie Kennedy-style hat Mrs. Clinton wore during the January 1993 inauguration and inaugural parade was mocked, as wags feared that a flying saucer had landed on the First Lady's head. In fact, Mrs. Clinton would struggle over the next few years, searching for a look that would suit her, an obstacle course paralleled by her search to define her role. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

10. The Clintons had joined a most exclusive historical club, and some of Hillary Clintons' dilemmas were rooted in the peculiarities of being First Lady, an extra-constitutional, improvised, extraordinarily public and challenging position. Ever the good student, the new First Lady read many books about her predecessors, especially Eleanor Roosevelt. Mrs. Clinton parroted the conventional wisdom that the role of First Lady is what you make it, ignoring the unspoken but relatively clear protocols constraining First Ladies - a lesson many of the women shown above at the 1997 dedication of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library eventually learned, but rarely admitted. Shown above, from left to right are: Lady Bird Johnson, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, George and Barbara Bush, the Clintons, Gerald and Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

11. HILLARYLAND!!! Fueled by the conventional wisdom, feminist aspirations, the working protocols of their lifelong partnership, a sweeping, idealistic ambition, and a heavy dose of hubris, the Clintons set out to establish a co-presidency. In the White House, a relatively old, relatively small, office building wherein real estate represented real access to power, the First Lady had an office in the West Wing, close to the Oval Office. Back in the East Wing, the traditional First Lady headquarters, a dedicated team of loyal aides established "Hillaryland." In a tempestuous administration that would be infamous for its sloppiness, infighting, instability, and leaks, Hillaryland would be an island of calm, loyalty and stability, although, if pushed, many of these aides seemed far more loyal to the First Lady than to the President of the United States. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

12. The Clinton co-presidency's big test came with the effort to reform health care. Mrs. Clinton headed this initiative, which could have affected one-seventh of the American economy and every single American. Forgotten now is that both Democrats and Republicans assumed there would be some health care reform, and spent most of 1993 debating just how revolutionary the transformation would be. Ecstatic Democrats echoed the legendary "Give 'em hell Harry" slogan from their 1948 underdog win, cheering the First Lady: "Give 'em health Hillary." COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

13. Despite all the hype - and to an extent, because of all the hype which may have made the Clintons a bit too arrogant and thus a bit too rigid at a time when Reaganized Americans were skeptical about big government - the health care reform failed. Opposition to the program, discomfort with Mrs. Clinton's outsized role, and outrage at the growing Whitewater scandal in an increasingly scandal-plagued White House, fed an intense backlash against the Clintons, but particularly against the First Lady. As this January 1996 Thomas Oliphant cartoon of Hillary Clinton as Lady Macbeth demonstrates, traditional sexist stereotypes came into play - although much of the issue also had to do with the traditional gossamer shackles limiting most First Ladies, which Hillary Clinton, and others, ignored at their own peril.

14. Inured by years of scandal-mongering, the Clintons responded aggressively. In retrospect, Mrs. Clinton and many key aides would regret their stubborn refusal to release more Whitewater-related records which made the appointment of an Independent Counsel all but inevitable. In these decisions, rather than any health care ideas, Hillary Clinton had her greatest impact on her husband's first term. When Whitewater-related billing records from the Rose Law Firm which had been missing for years showed up in the Clintons' well-guarded private residence, Hillary Clinton was saddled with an unhappy First Lady first - becoming the first First Lady called to testify before a Grand Jury. Determined not to show weakness, and to woo the citizens doing their duty, Hillary Clinton swept into the courthouse, dressed extravagantly, smiling flamboyantly and waving confidently at the photographers. Based on this diva-like performance, the acerbic post-feminist writer Camille Paglia deemed Mrs. Clinton "The First Drag Queen." CREDIT: c. GETTY IMAGES

15. Hounded by the failure of health care, the constant controversies, the legal troubles, and the fear of losing in 1996, Mrs. Clinton retreated from the co-presidency -proving that there was accountability, even for activist First Ladies. Plunging into more traditional First Lady-like roles, Mrs. Clinton became the nation's leading volunteer and do-gooder-in chief. Here, Mrs. Clinton tours a home for infant children with Mother Theresa in June 1995. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

16. Increasingly comfortable demonstrating her more stereotypically feminine side, Mrs. Clinton, pictured here with the White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier, became involved in more traditional activities. While critics claimed that the nation's first Feminist was hiding behind a new and safe Suzy Homemaker pose, Mrs. Clinton was actually continuing to do what she had been doing for years. Rather than making a series of false choices, she - and millions like her - were attempting to synthesize, reconcile, and harmonize their more traditional and family-oriented values with the best of the modern world. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

17. Burned by the health care criticism, Mrs. Clinton now tended to travel only to select crowds of her core constituents. There, she was often cheered wildly as if she were a rock star. In speeches before groups such as this Hermantown, Minnesota school in 1996, Mrs. Clinton articulated a philosophy that was more traditional, more rooted and more moderate than the "McGovernik" philosophy critics attributed to her. With her Midwestern Methodist background echoing through, Mrs. Clinton wanted to define a modern, progressive, family-friendly morality that maintained standards while eschewing intolerance. She refused to cede to conservatives on "family values," calling for policies that "value families." Seeking a crucial middle ground on the difficult abortion issue, Mrs. Clinton echoed her husband's request that abortion should be "legal, safe and rare." COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

18. In 1996, Bill Clinton enjoyed a relatively smooth re-election campaign, becoming only the third twentieth-century Democrat, along with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to be elected to a second term. When Chelsea graduated from high school in June 1997, and began preparing for a cross-country move to Stanford University, the Clintons seemed to be beginning a calmer phase of their lives and his presidency. The nation was enjoying a period of peace and prosperity. The Clinton marriage also seemed stronger, on its way to becoming yet another presidential marriage which healed during the White House years as the two became increasingly reliant on each other, considering they lived "above the store," and it was so hard, even for old friends, to speak to the President of the United States with the candor husbands can usually expect from their wives. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

19. This illusion of marital bliss, both publicly and privately, despite what may have gone on in Arkansas, made the revelations of Bill Clinton's affair with a White House intern that much more unnerving - and perhaps that much easier for supporters and his spouse to dismiss. Shortly after word about her husband's friendship with Monica Lewinsky leaked in January 1998, Mrs. Clinton appeared on "The Today Show" with Matt Lauer. Shifting into counter-attack mode - squelching or hiding whatever private misgivings she had - Mrs. Clinton blamed this scandal and the Clintons' troubles on a "vast right wing conspiracy." Not since a newly widowed Jackie Kennedy retroactively labeled her husband's administration "Camelot," had a First Lady uttered a more potent - and ultimately history-shaping - phrase. Hillary Clinton's charge became a rallying cry that saved Bill Clinton's presidency. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

20. Picture of Half-Hillary - grimacing - and Profile of a subdued Bill
Through the winter and spring of 1998, Bill Clinton's denials continued, reinforced by Hillary Clinton's counter-attacks. When physical evidence of the President's betrayal forced a Presidential confession in August 1998, to maintain her own credibility Hillary Clinton had to insist that she had believed her husband, furthering the public humiliation. For both Clintons the crisis was excruciatingly public and intensely private. While the President of the United States scrambled to keep his job and make amends publicly and privately with his wife, the First Lady had to manage her emotions and Chelsea's while also mourning her failure to jumpstart the conversation about morality and family from the left, which the Clinton scandals undermined. COURTESY: c. Reuters/Corbis

21. Picture of Bill, Hillary, Gore, Gephardt and Podesta
Hillary Clinton ultimately saved Bill Clinton's presidency by deciding that she had no qualms about defending "my President" from the Kenneth Starr and Republican assault, even as she needed to sort out her private emotions. Plunging into the November 1998 midterm election campaign, then trying to rally the Democrats during the Congressional fight over impeachment that December, Mrs. Clinton seemed to relish her renewed relevance and power, even while still reeling from the personal blow. On December 19, 1998, after a badly divided Congress voted to impeach the President, both Clintons seemed downright giddy as Congressional Democrats paraded to the White House from the Capitol. Here, the President and First Lady, followed by Vice President Al Gore, House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, and Chief of Staff John Podesta meet with Democrats outside the White House, secure in the knowledge that, if nothing else was clear in their relationship, their enemies were wrong and had to be defeated. COURTESY: c. Brooks Kraft/Corbis

22. The entire lamentable episode proved oddly liberating for Hillary Clinton. After decades of serving her husband's career, she found her own voice. After years of searching for just the right plane on which to meet the American public, and often missing it, she found a surprising popularity in the role of the victimized wife and the impassioned Democrat. Mastering the celebrity game, seemingly more secure in her identity, even more comfortable with her increasingly glamorized look, Hillary Rodham Clinton thrived in the final years of the Clinton presidency. But in addressing adoring crowds such as the one found at the September, 1998 Vital Voices Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the one-time "co-president" was staying within the more conventional parameters of the First Lady role. Like many of her more publicly-oriented predecessors, Hillary Clinton had finally figured out how to use what Nancy Reagan called the "white glove pulpit" effectively. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

23. Surprisingly, even the Clintons' relationship seemed to recover. During this June 1999 visit to a Kosovar refugee camp in Macedonia, the President and First Lady hugged and squeezed and held hands with as many victims of the Balkan conflict as they could touch. In bringing joy to these innocents and in challenging the world not to abandon them, the Clintons were doing what they did best and living up to their highest expectations for themselves. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

24. In announcing her candidacy to be the U.S. Senator from New York, on February 6, 2000, surrounded by New York's Democratic leadership including the retiring Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote her own "happy ending" to her tumultuous tenure as First Lady. By ending on this bold, substantive note, Mrs. Clinton guaranteed that she would be compared to her heroine, Eleanor Roosevelt. Whatever compromises she made seemed to shrink to deviations from a master plan to be a pioneering and independent First Lady. In fact, Mrs. Clinton's rocky road had a mixed impact on the office itself. Like a meteor soaring through the sky, her ambitions, and the aspirations of millions of women whom she inspired, illuminated the role's great potential, and the great hopes that a high profile, visionary, ambitious, politicized First Lady can generate. But these great dreams were meteoric: spectacular and fleeting. If anything, the first feminist First Lady legitimized the low-profile, apolitical traditionalism of her immediate predecessor and successor, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush. By highlighting the position's constraints, and by causing too much tumult, Hillary Clinton's exhausting turn as First Lady blazed the trail for the calmer and more calming Laura Bush to follow. And as further proof of the peculiarities of the position, while she certainly had her critics, as Senator Hillary Clinton did not run into the same hailstorm of criticism about power-hunger and Lady Macbeth-like tendencies. COURTESY: CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY