Robin Givhan: First Ladies Most Provocative When They're Abroad

Robin Givhan: First Ladies Most Provocative When They're Abroad

Recent first ladies have often been at their most provocative when they've traveled abroad. As first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to China for the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 to deliver a major address. In the weeks leading up to her speech, Clinton administration officials debated whether it was wise for her to go, whether she should confront China on its human rights abuses and how it should be done. She ended up delivering her now-famous speech in which she equated women's rights and human rights. "If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference," Clinton said, "it is that human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights once and for all."

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