Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.
Hard Choices is a memoir of former United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton , published by Simon & Schuster in 2014 , giving her account of her tenure in that position from 2009 to 2013 . Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( [ ˈhɪləri_daɪˈæn_ˈrɒdəm_ˈklɪntən ] born October 26 , 1947 ) is an American politician who was the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 , U.S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009 , First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 , and the Democratic Party 's nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election . Leaving office after Obama 's first term , she wrote her fifth book and undertook speaking engagements . United States presidential election, 2016 . The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator from Virginia Tim Kaine .