Hillary Clinton in the context of "2008 United States presidential election"

William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979 and as the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992. His centrist "Third Way" political philosophy became known as Clintonism, which dominated his presidency and the succeeding decades of Democratic Party history.

Born and raised in Arkansas, Clinton graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, and later from Yale Law School, where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham. After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor. As governor, he overhauled the state's education system and served as chairman of the National Governors Association. Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election, defeating the incumbent Republican president George H. W. Bush, and the independent businessman Ross Perot. He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation and the youngest to serve two full terms.

Donald Trump's first tenure as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president, and ended on January 20, 2021.

Trump, a Republican from New York, took office after defeating the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Upon his inauguration, he became the first president in American history without prior public office or military background. Trump made an unprecedented number of false or misleading statements during his 2016 campaign and first presidency. Alongside Trump's first presidency, the Republican Party also held their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 115th U.S. Congress following the 2016 elections, attained an overall federal government trifecta. His presidency ended following his defeat to former Democratic vice president Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Donald Trump's first tenure as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president, and ended on January 20, 2021.

Trump, a member of the Republican Party, took office after defeating the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Upon his inauguration, he became the first president in American history without prior public office or military background. Trump made an unprecedented number of false or misleading statements during his 2016 campaign and first presidency. Alongside Trump's first presidency, the Republican Party also held their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 115th U.S. Congress following the 2016 elections, thereby attained an overall federal government trifecta. His presidency ended following his re-election defeat to the Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and later worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988, Obama enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. In 1996, Obama was elected to represent the 13th district in the Illinois Senate, a position he held until 2004, when he successfully ran for the U.S. Senate. In the 2008 presidential election, after a close primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, he was nominated by the Democratic Party for president. Obama selected Joe Biden as his running mate and defeated Republican nominee John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin.

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

Born into a wealthy family in New York City, Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He became the president of his family's real estate business in 1971, renamed it the Trump Organization, and began acquiring and building skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He also launched side ventures, many licensing the Trump name, and filed for six business bankruptcies in the 1990s and 2000s. From 2004 to 2015, he hosted the reality television show The Apprentice, bolstering his fame as a billionaire. Presenting himself as a political outsider, Trump won the 2016 presidential election against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton.

Clintonism refers to the political and economic policies of Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as the era of his presidency in the United States.

The Democratic Leadership Council, a pro-Democratic Party establishment, argues that Clintonism "stands for economic growth and opportunity; for fiscal responsibility; for work, not welfare; for preventing crime and punishing criminals; and for non-bureaucratic, empowering government" and further says that "these policies are key to the successes in the beginning of the 21st century."

Bill Clinton served two tenures as governor of Arkansas. Elected in 1978, Clinton first served as governor for a single term from 1979 until 1981, losing his bid for re-election in 1980. After a two-year interregnum, Clinton returned to the governorship after winning the 1982 election. Clinton would be elected to five further terms (terms were extended from two years to four years beginning with the 1986 election), serving until mid-December 1992, when he resigned amid his transition into the U.S. presidency after having been elected president in the 1992 presidential election. Clinton was the second-longest serving governor in the state's history, after Orval Faubus.

Clinton's first governorship (1979–1981) saw him pursue many liberal policies. He had some successes, including successes with a rural healthcare reform effort by a taskforce that he had appointed his wife, Hillary, to lead. However, his term also saw the implementation of an unpopular motor vehicle tax. After Clinton returned to office for his second governorship in 1983, he was more centrist and was more selective as to what battles he pursued, zeroing in on particular priorities. One main priority was the state's economy, with Clinton providing tax incentives to businesses. Another priority was education, with Clinton and his wife, Hillary, overseeing the creation of significant education reforms. Other matters Clinton addressed included healthcare and lobbying reforms.

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Virginia junior senator Tim Kaine, in what was considered one of the biggest political upsets in American history. It was the fifth and most recent presidential election in which the winning candidate lost the popular vote.

Incumbent Democratic president Barack Obama was ineligible to pursue a third term due to the term limits established by the Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Clinton secured the nomination over U.S. senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and became the first female presidential nominee of a major American political party. Initially considered a novelty candidate, Trump presented himself as a blunt-spoken political outsider and emerged as the Republican front-runner, defeating several notable opponents, including U.S. senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, as well as governors John Kasich and Jeb Bush. Trump's right-wing populist, nationalist campaign, which promised to "Make America Great Again" and opposed political correctness, illegal immigration, and many US free trade agreements, garnered extensive free media coverage due to Trump's inflammatory comments. Clinton emphasized her extensive political experience; denounced Trump and half of his supporters as "deplorable" bigots and extremists; and advocated the expansion of Obama's policies, stressing racial equality, LGBT rights, women's rights, and inclusive capitalism.

Donald Trump ran a successful campaign for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He formally announced his campaign on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City, initially battling for the Republican Party's nomination. On May 26, 2016, he became the Republican Party's presumptive nominee. Trump was officially nominated on July 19 at the Republican National Convention. He chose Mike Pence, the sitting governor of Indiana, as his vice presidential running mate. On November 8, Trump and Pence were elected president and vice president of the United States.

Trump's populist positions in opposition to illegal immigration and various trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, earned him support especially among voters who were male, white, blue-collar, working class, and those without college degrees. Many voters in the Rust Belt, who gave Trump the electoral votes needed to win the presidency, switched from supporting Bernie Sanders to Trump after Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination.