Hillary Clinton's Life Pivots Once More

Former President Bill Clinton applauds his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on her re-election as she speaks to supporters at a Democratic victory party in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006. Clinton will embark on a widely anticipated campaign for the White House Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007, a former first lady intent on becoming the nation's first female president. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin ) (Frank Franklin - AP)

Now it was about "I."

Clinton took her own oath of office two weeks before her husband's presidency ended. For once, her husband was the political spouse dutifully watching from the sidelines.

The junior senator from New York did her best to be just another freshman but could not avoid the spotlight that followed her from Day One.

She kept her head down and established her bona fides on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and looking out for New Yorkers in the awful days after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

She was the most prominent advocate for workers sickened by the rescue effort, helped spare an upstate military base during a round of closures and cruised to re-election last November.

But speculation about her presidential ambitions was rampant from the start. Polls put her consistently at the top of potential Democratic contenders. A Washington Post-ABC News survey released Sunday showed her the favorite of 41 percent of Democrats, more than double the support of any of her rivals.

Yet surveys find that she still is a tough sell outside her party, viewed unfavorably by at least 40 percent of Americans _ 44 percent in the new poll. Her vote in favor of the Iraq war has become a point of tension with her party's left since the war fell from favor.

Clinton's 2003 memoir, "Living History," sold 1.3 million copies. Now, at 59, she is out to show that there is more of it yet to be lived.

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On the Net:

Hillary Rodham Clinton site: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/