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<\/a><\/figure>\n\nBefore the controversy, Clinton\u2019s popularity was approaching an all-time high. In a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 5-9 among 1,503 adults, 65% had a favorable impression of Clinton while just 29% had an unfavorable view.<\/p>\n\n
Throughout Clinton\u2019s tenure as secretary of state she has enjoyed consistently high favorability ratings \u2013 at least 60% or so. But her ratings during the previous 17 years were often quite mixed.<\/p>\n\n
Early Years: \u2018Cookies\u2019 and Controversy<\/h3>\n\n
Hillary Clinton first appeared on the national political scene in the spring of 1992, as Bill Clinton was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. In March 1992, when it was clear that her husband had effectively wrapped up the nomination, opinions about Hillary Clinton were mixed: 39% of registered voters had a favorable opinion, 26% viewed her unfavorably, while a significant minority (35%) did not express an opinion, according to a Gallup survey of registered voters.<\/p>\n\n That same month, Clinton became embroiled in the first of many controversies during her political career. In late March 1992, Nightline aired comments Clinton made to reporters where she strongly defended her role as an adviser on health care policy to her husband\u2019s campaign: \u201cI suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n While Clinton\u2019s comments triggered a broad debate over the role of women in the workplace, they also took a toll on her image. In April 1992, Gallup found that about as many had unfavorable impression (40%) as a favorable opinion (38%) of Clinton. Unfavorable views of Clinton jumped 14 points in the month following her \u201ccookies\u201d remarks, while favorable opinions of her were largely unchanged.<\/p>\n\n Favorable opinions of Clinton rose through the remainder of the 1992 campaign. In September, 56% viewed her favorably and 25% unfavorably. And in November, a few weeks after Bill Clinton was elected president, 57% had a favorable opinion of Clinton, while 21% had an unfavorable one.<\/p>\n\n During her initial year as first lady, Clinton was less popular than either of the women who succeeded her \u2013 Laura Bush or Michelle Obama. And much of that can be attributed to the fact that Clinton, from her earliest days in the White House, was a polarizing figure among men.<\/p>\n\n In May 1993, 69% of women \u2013 but just 51% of men \u2013 expressed a favorable opinion of Hillary Clinton. Clinton also was regarded more highly by younger women than older women. Women younger than 50 viewed Clinton favorably by more than three-to-one (72% to 22%); among older women, the margin was somewhat narrower (61% to 20%).<\/p>\n\n The gender gap was smaller in opinions about Laura Bush and Michelle Obama at comparable points in their first years. In July 2001, 66% of women and 62% of men viewed Bush favorably. Obama, who had a higher overall rating (76%) in her first year in the White House than either of her predecessors, was viewed favorably by 81% of women and 71% of men in June 2009.<\/p>\n\n The gender divide in opinions about Hillary Clinton has persisted throughout most of her career. However, in the current survey, her favorable rating is nearly as high among men (62%) as it is among women (68%).<\/p>\n\n During Bill Clinton\u2019s first term, Hillary Clinton\u2019s tenure was characterized by policy failures and personal scandals. Both took a toll on her favorable ratings. She took on a major policy role in leading a task force aimed at revamping the nation\u2019s health care system. But the effort ended in failure in September 1994. Two months later, Republicans won a House majority for <\/p>\n\n the first time in four decades.<\/p>\n\n During this period, Hillary Clinton also was mired in the so-called Whitewater scandal, which began as a failed real estate deal in Arkansas. In January 1996, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr subpoenaed Clinton in a criminal probe into Whitewater \u2013 the first time a wife of a sitting president had been subpoenaed.<\/p>\n\n In both January and February 1996, 54% expressed unfavorable views of Clinton \u2013 the highest negative ratings of her career. But as Bill Clinton sailed to an easy reelection victory in 1996, Hillary Clinton\u2019s image again improved. In January 1997, 57% viewed her favorably while 40% did not.<\/p>\n\n Yet Hillary Clinton remained a polarizing figure. This was reflected in the one-word descriptions used to describe her in a 1996 Pew Research survey. The top positive descriptions of Clinton were \u201cstrong,\u201d and \u201cintelligent,\u201d while the most frequently used negative words were \u201cdishonest\u201d and a derogatory term for women that rhymes with rich.<\/p>\n\n No event had a greater impact on Hillary Clinton\u2019s public image during her years in the White House than the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In the early days of the scandal, as her husband vehemently denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, a White House intern, Hillary Clinton rallied to his defense.<\/p>\n\n In an interview with Matt Lauer of the Today Show, Hillary Clinton famously ascribed the allegations against the president as a \u201cvast right-wing conspiracy\u201d that had been \u201cconspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The public rallied behind her: In March 1998, as the Lewinsky scandal raged, 65% expressed a favorable opinion of Hillary Clinton; just 31% viewed her unfavorably. Her favorable ratings remained above 60% through the remainder of 1998, as the House voted to impeach her husband.<\/p>\n\n Bill Clinton survived the impeachment saga and retained positive approval ratings through the remainder of his presidency. But the public had grown tired of the drama and scandals surrounding the Clinton administration. A new phrase \u2013 \u201cClinton fatigue\u201d \u2013 entered the political lexicon. In September 1999, fully 74% agreed with this statement: \u201cI am tired of all the problems associated with the Clinton administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n By May 2000, just 49% viewed Hillary Clinton favorably while 42% had an unfavorable impression. Her favorable rating had fallen 17 points since December 1998, shortly before the House voted to impeach Bill Clinton.<\/p>\n\n After leaving the White House, Clinton was easily elected as U.S. senator from New York. By 2007, she had set her sights on a bigger prize \u2013 the presidency. Clinton began the race as the odds-on favorite for the Democratic nomination. Pew Research Center surveys in 2007 found that she consistently drew 40% or more of the vote among Democrats and Democratic leaners, while her closest rival for the nomination, Sen. Barack Obama polled in the 20s.<\/p>\n\n What was expected to be a coronation for Clinton quickly turned into a contest. After finishing second in the Iowa caucuses, Clinton upset Obama in the New Hampshire primary \u2013 her most memorable election triumph. The early primaries showed that Clinton\u2019s support lagged among men, particularly younger men. Yet she also only ran about even with Obama among women college graduates, while attracting strong support among less educated women.<\/p>\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\nSetbacks and Scandals<\/h3>\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\u201cA Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy\u201d<\/h3>\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\nBitter Defeat, Yet Another Comeback<\/h3>\n\n