alternatehistory.com

Hillary Rodham Clinton is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth District, former potential Supreme Court nominee and one of the most influential legal writers with regards to the rights of women and children since the 1970s. Rodham Clinton, the wife of former Congressman Bill Clinton, quickly made a name for herself in the Arkansas legal community while her husband served in Congress and was appointed to the head of the Legal Services Corporation, the organization designed to help provide legal assistance to those unable to afford it, by President Huddleston. After a strong performance there, Huddleston appointed her to a vacancy in the US District Court for Eastern Arkansas in 1992.

Judge Rodham Clinton performed admirably in the role and when her husband declined to seek re-election in 1996 after several women came forth with allegations of adultery and sexual harassment from the congressman. Despite publicly supporting her husband, Rodham Clinton later admitted to marital difficulties after the affairs came to light and in the end, although she and her husband eventually reconciled. The next vacancy that opened on the Eight Court of Appeals, the superior court to the Eastern District of Arkansas occurred in 2002 and, fortunately for Rodham Clinton, the Democrats controlled the White House. President Gephardt quickly appointed her to the seat and the White House quietly added her to the list of potential Supreme Court candidates if the president were to appoint another justice.

The retirement of Griffin Bell in 2007 resulted in just this opportunity and Gephardt aides later revealed that Rodham Clinton was Gephardt’s first choice to replace Bell. However, her strong opinions in favor of preserving abortion access for women and questionable business decisions her husband had been involved in following his retirement from Congress led the White House to pass over her in favor of Sonia Sotomayor for the spot. Despite a new Democratic president in Deval Patrick, Rodham Clinton (who will turn 70 in October) is considered way too old for an appointment to the Supreme Court and reports indicate she will likely step down sometime within the next presidential term in order to allow Patrick to appoint her successor.

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