A decade and a half ago, Hillary Clinton was fresh off her tenure as first lady and just beginning her first term in the U.S. Senate. Even then, many people thought she was bound for bigger things.
Two of those people were Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
There was a lot more to the April/May 2001 issue of Mary-Kate and Ashley magazine than just the nostalgic bucket hats and boy bands of the early aughts. The premiere issue from the then-14-year-olds featured a nine-page spread asking the question, When will we get our first female president, and who might it be?
The name at the top of the list? Hillary Clinton.
The article offered a rundown of the 10 best contenders to be the first to carry the title of “Madam President.” Accompanying Clinton in the roundup were Elizabeth Dole, Dianne Feinstein, Maxine Waters, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and more — a who’s who of powerful women at the turn of the millennium.
Cheryl Higley, the author of the original article, told Refinery29 by email that Clinton topped that list for a reason. "For me, she had a more complete resume and a more visual national profile than most of the others," she wrote, though she added that she was not a political expert. "She had already established herself as an attorney, an advocate for families and children, had been a sitting first lady of a two-term popular president (for the most part), and had just won a seat in the Senate. It was clear she might have what it takes to chart a path to the presidency."
The number of women in U.S. government has grown, if not dramatically since 2001, at least steadily. Today, we have 104 women in Congress, as opposed to just 76 in 2001, and 1,814 women in state Legislatures, as opposed to 1,663. Still, there’s plenty of room to grow. Women comprise only one-quarter, or less, of those filling any elected office in the United States, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
So, where to go from here? Well, we definitely want to know if the Olsens have any predictions about who’s going to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the sisters declined to comment on this story via a representative.
After that? "First" female president implies that there must be a second. It's never too early to start thinking to the future!