Catherine Pigg
A&F Staff Writer
[email protected]
 
 
Hillary Clinton devoted her life to politics, spending years fighting for women’s rights and equality, expanding her views to become more inclusive and shifting into a more progressive campaign. Donald Trump, on the other hand, continually offended individuals and communities throughout the years.
In 1978, Hillary became the first woman to chair the Legal Services Corporation, which provided legal assistance to low-income individuals who otherwise would not be able to afford it.
In 1987, she was selected as the first chair of the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession. This was created to secure the equal participation of women within both the legal and justice system. She also instituted a Gender Equality Report card within the ABA.
Clinton voted for the Lily Ledbetter Act, which recognized wage discrimination and the victims of discrimination. This allowed victims of discrimination to file an employment complaint concerning compensation. She also lead sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act in the years 2005, 2007 and 2009. This was part of an effort to address the gender pay gap in the U.S., allowing workers to sue for damages of wage discrimination.
She is an advocate for women’s reproductive rights. Clinton willingly fights for women’s rights over their own bodies. She fights against Republicans trying to defund Planned Parenthood and restrict access to safe, legal abortions as well as contraception.
As first lady she also played a huge role to pass the Foster Care Independence Act in 1997, which today provides health care for 8 to 9 million low-income children.
She supported the Violence Against Women Act and encouraged the creation of the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women.
As a Senator she co-sponsored legislation with Senator Harry Reid to expand Medicaid eligibility for family planning services.
In 2007, Clinton held the first ever Senate hearing on environmental justice.
As Secretary of State she led efforts for a United Nations resolution establishing guidelines for an international response to sexual assault in conflict areas. She also created The Office of Global Women’s Issues within the State Department, recognizing the need for women and girls across the globe to have education and healthcare.
During the UN’s Fourth World Conference on women, Clinton declared, “Women’s rights are human rights!” She went to the conference, even though Bill’s administration advised her not to make this speech.
Clinton voted to add sex and sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes in 2001. Sen. Clinton voted against a constitutional ban on same sex marriage in 2004.
As Secretary of State, in 2011, she made a speech to the UN stating “Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.”
These are just a few of the many things she has done during her time in politics.
However, throughout the years Donald Trump showed how he is unqualified for presidency.
In 1973, the Justice Department sued Trump for housing discrimination after he allegedly refused to rent apartment units to people of color. Later on in 1975 Trump settled into an agreement for this case.
Trump made a deal with New York City to develop property currently worth $530 million, yet he did not pay federal income tax in 1979.
A judge accused Trump of harassing a tenant to move out of his apartment in 1983. The same year he also was sued after underpaying foreign workers for their work on Trump Tower.
Trump built a casino named the “Taj Mahal” with a billion dollars in junk bonds in 1989. The casino went under after only one year resulting in countless small businesses being hurt in the aftermath.
In 1990, Trump promised his new Atlantic City hotel was “Truly going to be an incredible place.” The hotel later filed for bankruptcy which also resulted in harming small businesses in the process.
In 1993, Trump claimed many Native American casino owners were lying about their heritage in order to boost profits in Atlantic City. Later in 1995, Trump lost nearly $1 billion running a casino resulting in him being able to go 18 years without paying federal income taxes.
Trump started a modeling agency in 1999 and was later sued for allegedly underpaying models.
Trump stated two days after 9/11, his buildings were not affected, yet he accepted $150,000 in taxpayer dollars to rebuild small businesses to recover from damages.
Later on in 2005, Trump started Trump University which was a for-profit education company which later revealed to be a scam. During 2010, Trump University was shut down after allegations the program was scamming students out of $40 million. He is now facing investigation and two multi-million dollar lawsuits.
Also in 2005, Trump spoke candidly about groping women with Billy Bush during the taping of Access Hollywood.
Trump claimed bankruptcy on one of his companies for the sixth time in his career in 2009.
Trump made accusations President Obama was not born in the U.S. and even sent private investigators to Hawaii to find President Obama’s birth certificate in 2011.
In 2012, Trump tweeted a conspiracy in which the Chinese created global warming in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive — he later called it a hoax. This same year, he attempted to discredit Obama’s reelection victory by making accusations stating Obama had lost the popular vote, when Obama had actually won the popular vote in 2012.
Trump tweeted the military’s sexual assault issues were a natural result of gender integration in 2013, recently calling this “a correct tweet.”
In 2015, Trump stated he would call for a blanket ban on Muslims from entering the U.S. if he were elected president. He also called Mexicans “rapists” and accused Mexicans of bringing drugs into the U.S.
Just this year in 2016, Trump called for not only the outlaw of abortion but also for a punishment on women who have abortions. He also pledged to sign the First Amendment Defense Act, which would legalize anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination for both employers and healthcare providers.
There is a long list of many of Trump’s works and words throughout the years showing him to be a failed businessman, maybe even someone who scams individuals of their money. He has made offensive statements and tweets in his past and continues to offend minorities throughout his campaign.
Hillary Clinton is of course not without fault, but compared to Donald Trump, she is the best option. She is not only experienced in politics, but she willingly became more open in her views. She pushes for a more inclusive and progressive country and will continue to do so throughout her presidency.