"If Hillary Clinton wins, that would have been two presidencies in a row where it was not a white man in the Oval Office," American University's Jennifer Lawless, an expert in women in politics, told AFP.
As she takes on the role of pioneer, Clinton could help inspire Democratic women, and some men, to be more involved in the political process. "I think it needs a woman's touch," actor Ryan Gosling told the Evening Standard magazine. "I've always liked women more... They are better than us. They make me better."
When she was still known as Hillary Rodham, the young lawyer was already involved in women's and children's causes -- a worthy calling beyond reproach. She put her successful career on hold to become the political partner to her husband Bill, following him from the Arkansas governor's mansion to the White House. The 68-year-old former first lady then established her own name in politics, as a two-term senator from New York and then as secretary of state for Barack Obama's first four years in office.
But Clinton's deep political experience is not without baggage -- the scandals dogging her have provided fodder for Republicans, who have since the 1990s portrayed her as a woman with suspect friendships and poor ethical judgment. The scandals run the gamut: from the Whitewater real estate investment controversy, in which the Clintons were eventually cleared, to the Benghazi attacks and her use of a private email server while at the State Department, which has made her the subject of an FBI probe.
All of those have made her the most unpopular and polarizing Democratic presidential candidate in recent history. "I think if you've been attacked as much as she has for standing up for people the way she has, yeah, you pay a price for that," her campaign manager Robby Mook told MSNBC television.
"I am not a natural politician, in case you haven't noticed, like my husband or President (Barack) Obama," Clinton acknowledged in March. Her speeches often get bogged down in policy details, and don't flow. Americans have however elected a president with mediocre oratory skills before... Dwight Eisenhower, in 1952.
