Demographics of Hillary Clinton

Demographics of Hillary Clinton

Since the beginning of the United States men have controlled the country and dominated its politics. Though that has slowly begun to change over the last century, women are still greatly under represented. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, has become a greatly influential individual in the push for women's representation in politics. Due to her push and woman campaigning and getting elected more and more each election, one can see how politics and especially Congress is steadily changing into a more decorative and diverse institution. The main points to think about when discussing the demographics and diversities of Congress are not only gender but also ethnicity, religion, race, age, education, and occupation.

If one were to compare the congress of today with the first, they would immediately notice a gap in regard to gender and ethnicity. When this country was founded, it was ruled by men. Women had very little rights as citizens as well as people for that matter. That changed with the push for women's rights and the election of 1917 that put the first female representative into the House (Amer 2008). Since that time, there have been only 246 women who have served in Congress (Amer 2008). Of that 246, 95 are now making up 15 percent of the 111th congress in 2009(Amer 2008). When compared to the norm/ stereotype of congress, Clinton does not fit the mode. Though it is changing each year, men are still the majority in Congress with 439 men in congress. Ethnicity, however, is a demographic stat that Clinton does fit to a tee. In the congress of today, there are 41 African Americans, 31 Hispanic, 11 Asian, and one American Indian. If one were to add these numbers together they would arrive at 84 (Manning 2008). When subtracted from the 534 members of Congress, that leaves 450 other members. What are these other members? These remaining members are Caucasian, which is what Clinton is. Another stat to look at is religion in Congress.

In 1776, fifty five delegates met to try and establish a new nation. In the famous Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, it talks of a God and Creator of men (Jefferson pg 1). What does this mean? It means that even the founders of this country had a religion of some sort. This is true in the Congress of today as well. In the 111th Congress 28.8 percent of its members are Roman Catholic, making it the majority religious group in congress (Manning 2008). The second most predominant religion is Baptist at 14.1 percent, followed closely by Methodist at 11.4 percent and Presbyterian at 9.7 percent (Amer 2008). "Historically, the top five denominations are the same top five mentioned earlier" (Manning 2008). The question is, where does Clinton fit in with these stats? She fits these stats perfectly. She became a Methodist at the age of thirteen and remains so to this day (Clinton 2009).