Hillary Clinton Sees Kamala Harris Above ‘Glass Ceiling’

‘We are writing a new chapter in America’s story,’ says Clinton.

From beneath the elusive glass ceiling, Hillary Clinton reminded a raucous convention hall on opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that the party was so close to breaking through “for once and for all.” 

Clinton—a former secretary of state, U.S. senator, first lady and native of Park Ridge, Illinois—took the stage to a thunderous standing ovation and spoke notably, again, about the barrier that ultimately kept her from ascending beyond “the highest and hardest glass ceiling” in the 2016 presidential election, where she won the popular vote but lost the electoral college and the election to Donald Trump. 

Clinton first alluded to the glass ceiling in a June 2008 speech where she conceded the Democratic presidential nomination to former President Barack Obama.

“Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it,” Clinton then said.

She referred to it again in a June 2016 speech after she clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. She said: “It may be hard to see tonight, but we are all standing under a glass ceiling right now.”

In the convention hall inside the United Center Monday, Clinton, again, looked up. 

“What do I see through all those cracks?” Clinton asked. “I see freedom.” 

She went on to describe those freedoms: to work with dignity and prosperity, to speak freely and honestly, and to look children in the eye and tell them they can go as far as their hard work can take them.

“On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris taking the oath of office,” Clinton said. “When a barrier falls for one of us, it falls. It clears the way for all of us.”

At the top of her speech, Clinton saluted President Joe Biden calling him a champion for democracy at home and abroad and crediting him for bringing dignity back to the White House.

“Now, we are writing a new chapter in America’s story,” Clinton said.

She went on to pay tribute to the women before her who tapped on that glass ceiling.

She honored Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress in 1968 and the first African American to run for a major party’s nomination for president. 

“Her determination allowed me and millions of others to dream bigger,” Clinton said.

And in 1984, Clinton said she brought her daughter, Chelsea, to see Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman female vice-president nominee alongside Walter Mondale representing a major party.

“Then, there was 2016,” she added. “It was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for president.” 

Clinton’s speech combined elements of a traditional first lady's speech for a spouse painting a personal picture of the candidate, a former first lady's call to action with more latitude to be political and attack the opponent, and a former but failed party standard bearer who represents the party's values and continues the fight, Diana Carlin, professor emerita of communication at Saint Louis University, told East Wing Magazine.

“It was a call to make the final cracks in the glass ceiling,” said Carlin, co-author of Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women.  

In referencing the glass ceiling, Carlin said Clinton engaged in the identity politics that she could not when she was the candidate and that Kamala Harris also needs to avoid. Clinton’s presence was a reminder enough of the cracks she made that moved presidential history closer to Kamala Harris' first as a female, Black, and South Asian vice president and positioned her to potentially make history again, she said.

For Elizabeth Natalle, a First Ladies Studies scholar and professor emerita in communication from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Clinton’s standing ovation upon entering the convention hall was reminiscent of the lengthy standing ovation former First Lady Pat Nixon received during the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami where she stood for more than five minutes before she could begin speaking.

“What surprised me the most was Hillary Clinton's delivery,” Natalle told East Wing Magazine. “She was so relaxed, sincere, and in command of a conversational, straightforward style that she was a new Hillary. A wonderful Hillary.”

She was a Hillary who reiterated all the themes of 2016, from women breaking the “highest, hardest” glass ceiling to putting Kamala Harris squarely in the theme of ‘For the People,’” Natalle said. “But she delivered in a way that had us right in her hand.”

Clinton went on to energize the arena by calling out Donald Trump by juxtaposing Harris with Trump in saying Harris sat in the situation room, stands for American values, won't disrespect veterans and military heroes, won't write love letters to dictators, and who will “take care” of our laws, added Natalle.

Clinton hit on another historic theme before she concluded, Carlin said, when she alluded to her first lady experiences, to the current first lady, and to the current candidate with her line: “It still takes a village to raise a family, heal a country, and win a campaign.” 

Clinton noted that the story of her life and the history of the country is built on the notion that progress is possible, but not guaranteed. That it is worth fighting for it and never giving up.

“There is always a choice. Do we push forward or pull back? Come together as “We The People” or split into us versus them?” she said. “That’s the choice we face in this election.”