Bid for 2016 Presidency

In June 2014, Clinton released Hard Choices, a memoir published by Simon & Schuster, which
rose to number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. The following year in early March
2015, Clinton faced controversy and criticism when it was revealed that she had used her
personal email address to handle official governmental business during her time as secretary of
state. In a news conference held at the United Nations, speaking initially on gender equality and
the political situation in Iran, Clinton stated that she had utilized her personal email for
convenience as allowed by state department protocol. She later turned over all governmental
correspondence to the Obama administration while deleting messages that could be construed as
personal.

After much speculation and assumptions over whether Clinton would run for the U.S.
presidency, her plans were made official in the spring of 2015. On April 12, Clinton's campaign
chairperson John D. Podesta announced via email that the former secretary of state was entering
the race to secure the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2016 elections. This was
immediately followed by an online campaign clip, with Clinton herself announcing that she's
running for president at the end of the video. She is considered a front-runner and, if successful,
would be the first woman to earn the nomination for a major party's presidential bid.

Campaign Issues

On her campaign site, Clinton discusses a wide variety of issues she believes in, among them:
lowering student debt, criminal justice reform, campaign finance reform, improving the
healthcare coverage and costs of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), and women's
rights.

However, she is also known for changing her stances on various hot button issues such as gay
marriage (she now supports it) and trade deals (e.g. she is now against the Trans Pacific
Partnership). In regard to the environment, Clinton has a plan to combat climate change but has
been questioned by environmental activists for supporting fracking. She is also in support of the
death penalty but claims it should be implemented in exceptional cases.