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Inquirer editorial: Of Hillary and history

Hillary Clinton's hard-fought entry into the history books as the first woman a major party has nominated for president is the culmination of generations of struggles and sacrifices.

Hillary Clinton speaks to delegates during the final day of the DNC at the Wells Fargo Center.
Hillary Clinton speaks to delegates during the final day of the DNC at the Wells Fargo Center.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

Hillary Clinton's hard-fought entry into the history books as the first woman a major party has nominated for president is the culmination of generations of struggles and sacrifices.

Women have fought for equal footing with men since the nation's earliest days. Just a year after the colonists met in Philadelphia to declare their independence from England, the states enacted laws prohibiting women from participating in the new nation by voting. Those laws were followed by further statutes and court decisions relegating women to second-class status when it came to owning property, working, and controlling their bodies.

It wasn't until 1920 that women won the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Nearly a century later, women still labor for economic parity and shared power.

Clinton didn't walk alone to the stage of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Thursday to accept the Democratic nomination. She was helped along by countless American women who sought better futures for themselves and their families. And she followed all the women who ventured into politics, medicine, law, and other male-dominated fields, proving that gender does not predict achievement; ability and fortitude do.

Clinton also owes her place in history to her own ambition, intellect, and skill. It took a formidable figure to crack such a high glass ceiling.

As with so many historic figures, the strength of her convictions and the force with which she has pursued her goals have made her both a beacon of hope and a magnet for derision. She is a long-standing threat to those who would keep women from reaching their potential because she has been so capable of exceeding expectations.

From her entry into public life, Clinton signaled that she was going to be a different kind of first lady, one who pursued complex, high-stakes issues like health care with unreserved vigor and in the face of much controversy. Her contributions to the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the Iran nuclear deal drew deserved praise, even as her careless and arrogant use of a private server for sensitive emails is drawing deserved criticism.

Clinton accepted the nomination after four days of demonstrations in the streets of Philadelphia and after her Democratic Party offered up former President Bill Clinton, President Obama, and a host of other luminaries to try to unify the party behind her, accentuating the chapters of her personal narrative that would appeal to the party's base, even though the truth is more complicated.

Clinton is both a flawed person like the rest of us and an undeniable symbol of human progress. She wears the mantle of history that connects the women before her to the women yet to come. Beaming, she told little girls, "I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next."

Whether she makes the final leap to that office will be decided by voters in November. But we can already celebrate another revolutionary milestone reached in Philadelphia.