Hillary Clinton: From first lady to the race for president

For eight years, she headed the East Wing of the White House. And 15 years later, she is now in the race for the West Wing.

Hillary Clinton started off in the 1970s as the First Lady of Arkansas, when her husband Bill Clinton was elected the governor for the state.

When Bill Clinton became president, Hilary was no longer satisfied playing the usual First Lady.

But it is only after her husband's presidency, that she started her own political career by becoming the first female Senator from New York.

That fired her ambitions and Hilary announced her run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

She lost it to Barack Obama, but served as the secretary of state in his administration and stepped down shortly after his re-election in 2012.

Win or not, the 69-year-old lawyer has already made history as the first woman to be nominated as the presidential candidate by a major US political party.

Born as Hillary Diane Rodham in October 1947 in Chicago, she became active in student politics in 1960s during her days at the Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

She met Bill Clinton while attending the Yale Law School and the two married in 1975.

Hillary's days in active politics began in 1978, when her husband became governor of Arkansas.

In 1993, Bill Clinton stepped into the White House as the 42nd US President and during his campaign he had often quipped of offering voters two presidents "at the price of one."

In her days at the East Wing, which houses the First Lady's office, Hillary campaigned for women's rights and universal healthcare.

She, however, failed to deliver on the plan of a universal healthcare as it was never debated in the Congress, but it helped to raise her profile home and abroad.

Clinton's second-term was marred with various scandals.

Hillary had to survive the media frenzy over her husband's affairs, but stood by his side describing the Monica Lewinsky scandal a "vast right-wing conspiracy".

In 2000, she got herself on the centre-stage of the Democratic Party after her successful run for senator in New York following a re-election in 2006.

In 2008, she started her campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election, but lost it to Barack Obama, who then went on to become the 44th US president.

Obama, the first black US president, named her as his secretary of state, which was seen as an effort to mend the rift within the party after the primary campaign.

Hillary earned a reputation for her rigorous travel schedule, when she visited 112 countries.

As the top US diplomat, she highlighted women's rights and human rights. She also led the US response to the Arab Spring and the military intervention in Libya in 2011.

In 2013, shortly after Obama's re-election, Hillary stepped down from the administration, signalling her run for presidency.

But shortly before her announcement, she was accused of breaching laws by using private servers to access her official emails, that including sensitive information.

The FBI ran an investigation and later announced that it would not recommend criminal charges.

But donations made to the Clinton Foundation have been used against her by her Republican rival Donald Trump.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has claimed that several of the foundation's donors had also funded the Islamic State.