Hillary Clinton was a politician.
Hillary Clinton . Clinton was elected in 2000 as the first female senator from New York . She was re-elected to the Senate in 2006 . Running for president in 2008 , she won far more delegates than any previous female candidate , but lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama . She received the most votes and primary delegates in the 2016 Democratic primaries , and formally accepted her party 's nomination for President of the United States on July 28 , 2016 with vice presidential running mate Senator Tim Kaine . Despite winning a plurality of the national popular vote , Clinton lost the Electoral College and the presidency to her Republican opponent Donald Trump .