WASHINGTON — As a young girl growing up in suburban Chicago, Hillary Rodham decided she’d never change her last name. Three decades later, an entire state debated her childhood choice.
Arkansans grumbled about invitations to public events from Gov. Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham, and Bill Clinton lost his race for re-election. But his wife ended up making the most lasting recalibration.
“I’ll be Mrs. Bill Clinton,” she told reporters in February 1982, on the day her husband announced his intention to run again for the office he had lost.
Today, they hear from Hillary Clinton. That’s the name aides to the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination say she now prefers. You might not know that from looking at her campaign website, on which she’s simply referred to as Hillary.
She was Hillary Rodham Clinton throughout her time as first lady and secretary of state. That was also the name she used as an author of two best-selling memoirs. Citing Clinton’s preference, The Associated Press last week changed its style and refers to her as Hillary Clinton. Several other news organizations have done the same.
