Hillary Rodham Clinton, daughter of a naval officer turned textile salesman and a maid turned clerk typist, is on track to becoming the first female president of the United States of America.
With 2,497 delegates as of 11:00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton had convincingly clinched enough votes to become the nominee of the Democratic Party. Her opponent, Bernie Sanders, trails behind with 1,663 delegates. Democratic Party rules require the winning candidate to secure a minimum of 2,383 delegates.
The delegate count for both candidates will change as results filter in from primary elections held Tuesday in the states of Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota and California. With the majority of the votes in from five states, Mrs. Clinton was the projected winner in New Mexico, New Jersey and South Dakota. Senator Sanders was projected to win Montana and North Dakota.
Mrs. Clinton is also on track to a win in California, the largest electorate in the country. With a cache of 475 delegates, a win in California will take her way above the required number of delegates and secure her place in history.
Hillary Clinton’s victory came exactly eight years after she conceded the 2008 primary election victory to then Senator Barack Obama. She gave her concession speech and endorsed Mr. Obama on Saturday June 7, 2008 during a final campaign rally at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Born into a conservative household, Mrs. Clinton’s journey to her nomination as the Democratic Party’s flagbearer began in 1964 when she worked as a volunteer for Republican Presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater, in Chicago.
Her father, Hugh Rodham, contested unsuccessfully in the Republican Party. Her transition to the Democratic Party found initial expression in her involvement with the Civil Rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War which put her against the dominant strain in the Republican Party.
She co-organized a two-day student strike following the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968 and served as an inquiry staff advising the Congressional House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate Scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon of the Republican Party.
In private and public life, she is also known for her calm disposition in troubled times, a disposition she displayed to the hilt during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, to the dismay and annoyance of many declared feminists. She was lauded for her diligence as a senator representing New York and as Secretary of State.
The Clintons enjoy the support of many African immigrant communities, especially Nigerians. Bill and Hillary have both visited Nigeria in their different official capacities. Bill Clinton visited Nigeria at least twice, once during the last year of his presidency in 1999 and in 2013 for the groundbreaking of Eko Atlantic City.
The Clintons’ relationship with Nigerians has not been without controversy. President Bill Clinton has been condemned several times over the past two decades for the Clinton Foundation’s relationship with Gilbert Chagoury whose family business is indicted in many financial crimes in Nigeria, including the Abacha loot.
Similar questions were raised about donations to Hillary’s 2008 campaign by Kase Lawal, a Nigerian-American Oil merchant based in Texas who was then under scrutiny for illegally pumping and exporting 10 million barrels of oil.
