Hillary Clinton served as first lady of Arkansas during the two governorships of her husband, Bill Clinton. During her husband's first governorship, she was known as Hillary Rodham. However, in his second governorship, she made use of the name Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Clinton took an active role in the state's government, serving on boards and advancing causes and legislation. During her time as first lady of Arkansas, she also continued her legal career at the Rose Law Firm and served on several nonprofits, federal boards, as well as on the corporate boards of directors of Wal-Mart and other companies.
First tenure (1979–1981) Following her husband's November 1978 election as governor of Arkansas, Hillary Rodham became that state's first lady in January 1979. She would hold that title for twelve nonconsecutive years (1979–81, 1983–92). Her first tenure lasted from January 1979 until January 1981, as her husband lost his bid for reelection in 1980.
Unconventionality
She was the first first lady of Arkansas to hold a job during their husband’s governorship. After her husband and her moved to the state capital of Little Rock in 1979, Clinton joined the prestigious Rose Law Firm. In 1979, Rodham was made the first woman to be made a full partner at the prestigious Rose Law Firm. Rodham earned more than her husband did in salary during his tenures as governor. Additionally, during both her husband’s terms as governor, Clinton would advise her husband on policy.
She retained use of her birth name Hillary Rodham instead of using her husband’s surname, which was something that her husband’s opponent in the 1978 gubernatorial primary had heavily used as an attack against her husband. The news gave attention to her lack of conformity and to her decision not to use her husband’s surname. The New York Times'''s profile of the newly-elected Bill Clinton described him as, "married to an ardent feminist, Hillary Rodham, who will certainly be the first First Lady of Arkansas to keep her maiden name." The Arkansas Democrat'' wrote a profile that reported, "Despite the fact that she keeps her maiden name, the wife of Arkansas’s new governor, Bill Clinton, claims she’s really an old-fashioned girl." Additionally, her cosmetic appearance during her husband’s first term did not conform to societal standards for the state’s first ladies. She dressed in matronly manner, wore her hair in headbands, and wore large glasses.
Early into her husband’s governorship, she appeared on a public-affairs program and was asked about her decision to continue having her own career and to retain her maiden name, which the host argued was a liability because these were liberal moves and Arkansas was a conservative state. She answered "Anita Bryant didn’t take her husband’s name either and I don’t think that she has a liberal image." She continued,
An occurrence demonstrating skepticism towards Rodham because of her unconventionality saw a reporter ask her “You’re not a native [of Arkansas], you’ve been educated in liberal Eastern universities, you’re less than 40. You don’t have any children. You don’t use your husband’s name. You practice law. Does it concern you that maybe other people feel that you don’t fit the image that we have created for the governor’s wife in Arkansas?". She replied that it did not.
Gay White, who succeeded Hillary as the state's first lady after Bill Clinton's first term as governor, has expressed the belief that Hillary's unconventionally was a factor in Bill Clinton's failure to win his first bid for reelection.
Rural Health Advisory Committee
In the first year of her husband’s governorship, Rodham was appointed by her husband to be the chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee. The role of the committee was to work on providing healthcare to the more isolated areas of the state. As chair of this committee, Clinton secured federal funds to expand medical facilities in Arkansas's poorest areas without affecting doctors' fees.
Other activities
In 1979 Clinton continued engaged in the trading of cattle futures contracts, something she had begun the previous year. An initial $1,000 investment generated nearly $100,000 when she stopped trading after ten months. In 1979, the couple began their ill-fated investment in the Whitewater Development Corporation real estate venture with Jim and Susan McDougal. Both of these became subjects of controversy in the 1990s.
On February 27, 1980, Rodham gave birth to her and Bill Clinton's only child, a daughter whom they named Chelsea.
Second tenure (1983–1993)