As early as March 2011, she indicated she was not interested in serving a second time period as secretary of state ought to Obama be re-elected in 2012; in December 2012, following that re-election, Obama nominated Senator John Kerry to be Clinton's successor. Upon her departure, analysts commented that Clinton's tenure didn't deliver any signature diplomatic breakthroughs as some other secretaries of state had achieved, and highlighted her concentrate on objectives she thought were less tangible but would have more lasting effect. She has additionally been criticized for accepting millions in dollars in donations from international governments to the Clinton Foundation during her tenure as Secretary of State. Bill Clinton had made more statements attracting criticism for their perceived racial implications late within the South Carolina marketing campaign, and his position was seen as damaging sufficient to her that a wave of supporters inside and out of doors of the campaign mentioned the former president "needs to cease". The South Carolina marketing campaign had carried out lasting harm to Clinton, eroding her support among the Democratic establishment and resulting in the prized endorsement of Obama by Ted Kennedy. Clinton opposed the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, for each navy and domestic political causes .
She joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School, and in 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation. Bill Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas, and in 1980 their daughter, Chelsea, was born. For twelve years, as Arkansas’s first woman, Hillary balanced family, legislation, and public service. Two years after leaving office, Bill Clinton returned to his job as governor of Arkansas after profitable the election of 1982. During her husband's campaign, Hillary started to make use of the name "Hillary Clinton", or typically "Mrs. Bill Clinton", to assuage the considerations of Arkansas voters; she additionally took a depart of absence from Rose Law to marketing campaign for him full-time.
She gained the race by a significant margin, turning into the primary feminine senator from New York, and she was reelected in 2006 by a good wider margin. In 2008, while operating for president, she earned probably the most delegates and first victories of any girl who had run earlier than. She was narrowly defeated for the Democratic nomination in a tough and divisive primary contest with Senator Barack Obama of Illinois who went on to win the Presidency. When she agreed to turn out to be Obama's Secretary of State, she became the first former First Lady to serve in a presidential cupboard.