First Lady. United States senator from New York. Secretary of State.
All high-profile roles and all avenues through which the American people came to know Hillary Clinton. In one way or another, we all know her and have observed how strongly she advocates for the American people at the local, state, national and global levels.
Notwithstanding those achievements, their limelight can cause one to forget Hillary Clinton began her political career in grassroots movements that yielded her no prominent political fame while improving the lives of Americans who most desperately needed a champion.
I was privileged to hear her speak about this at an event in 2013 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She recalled her time in law school, when she went door to door for the Children’s Defense Fund, surveying families about why so many children were not attending school.
“I found some children weren’t in school because they had to work to help support the family,” she said. “But I mostly found children with disabilities, who in those days were not really welcome in our schools, children whose families couldn’t afford the wheelchair or the hearing aid … that might have made it possible for [their child] to attend school.” The data collected by Clinton and her colleagues resulted in the organization’s first report, called “Children Out of School in America.” As a result, Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975.
That is the Hillary Clinton who would represent the American people as president of the United States, someone who will roll up her sleeves, grab a clipboard and assist in paving the way for children, including those with disabilities, to receive an education.
While reflecting on past accomplishments, I heard from a leader in 2013 who was then and is now keenly aware of our country’s most pressing challenges. “Today in America, more than 16 million children live in poverty, the highest percentage since the 1990s,” she noted. Peel back the high-profile roles, and at her core Hillary Clinton is a resolute woman passionate about children, education and working-class families. The United States needs a champion like her.
In many ways, the issues affecting children in America speak to the issues that affect us all. Whether it be the 22 million children relying on food stamps or the more than $1.1 trillion of student loan debt burdening college graduates, the issues impacting young people speak to the struggles of working-class families, including my own.
That is why I believe Clinton, whose unmatched passion, activism and intimate care for our nation’s future, ought to be the next president of the United States.
In January of this year, I began my first term in the Maine House of Representatives. One takeaway from my first term stands out above the rest: how important it is to possess the ability to build coalitions. The United States needs a leader who can build effective coalitions in order to realize a country where you and I have as equal an opportunity to succeed as those in the millionaire and billionaire classes. Legislation does not become law without coalitions of Democrats and Republicans to move the ball forward.
In the 1990s, Clinton worked with Republicans and Democrats to create the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It now provides coverage to more than 8 million children.
U.S. Sen. John McCain and numerous Republican leaders have praised Clinton’s work as secretary of state. In 2013, McCain professed to then-Secretary of State Clinton, “All over the world where I travel, you are viewed with admiration and respect.” We need a leader who commands this kind of respect from her colleagues across the proverbial aisle, especially when inroads are needed to pass legislation important to working-class families such as ours here in Maine.
Hard working. Coalition builder. People’s champion. Titles aside, these are more apt descriptors of Clinton. Even in the Oval Office, we can expect she will roll up her sleeves and fight the good fight for my family and yours.
Democratic state Rep. Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford, 22, is serving in his first term in the Maine House of Representatives. He graduated with a degree in political science and a certificate in theology and religious studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.