Town Hall at EWHA Women's University
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State, Secretary of State
Town Hall Meeting at Ewha Women's University
Seoul, South Korea
February 20, 2009
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good
afternoon. (cheers and applause) Thank you so much, President Lee. I am
honored to be here at this great university. I wish to thank also
Chairperson (inaudible) and the more than 107,000 alumni at this great
school. Standing up with me was our Ambassador Kathy Stephens, who has
told me that more than 50 graduates of Ewha Womans University work at
U.S. Embassy Seoul. We are extremely proud of the education they have
received here.
It is a great privilege to stand here before you on
the stage of the largest women’s university in the world. And I came to –
(applause) – this university as a matter of destiny, because you see,
Ewha and I share a connection. (Cheers and applause.) I am a Methodist,
my family on my father’s side comes from Scranton, Pennsylvania –
(applause) – and I must say that Wellesley College is a sister college
for Ewha University. (Applause.) So being an honorary fellow seems right
at home today.
I also note that in this audience are some
Korean-American friends from New York and California. There are several
Wellesley graduates whom I met backstage as well – (applause) – and an
extraordinary number of talented young women, faculty members, and
administrators.
Learning about this great university and the role
that you have played in advancing the status of women made me think
about so many of the women throughout history who are inspirations to
me: Madame Scranton, someone who started teaching one young woman, and
from her dedication and hard work came this university; Eleanor
Roosevelt, a pioneering First Lady of the United States and a voice for
democracy around the world, and one of the driving forces behind the
United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. Now, that was more than 50
years ago, but just a few weeks ago, one of Korea’s most accomplished
leaders, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, called on all
nations worldwide to push for more progress on women’s equality. And I
want to thank the Secretary General – (applause) – because he said that
women’s empowerment is the key to progress in developing nations.
People
who think hard about our future come to the same conclusion, that women
and others on society’s margins must be afforded the right to fully
participate in society, not only because it is morally right, but
because it is necessary to strengthen our security and prosperity.
Before
I came out on stage, I met a number of young women who are in political
office here in the Republic of Korea, and I hope I was looking at a
future president of this great nation. (Applause.)
As you think about
your own futures, keeping in mind security and prosperity and the role
that each of us must play, is essential because of the urgent global
challenges we face in the 21st century. We need all of our people’s
talents to be on the very forefront of setting a course of peace,
progress, and prosperity; be it defending our nations from the threat of
nuclear proliferation and terror, or resolving the global climate
crisis or the current economic crisis, and promoting civil society,
especially women’s rights and education, healthcare, clean energy, good
governance, the rule of law, and free and fair elections. All of these
matters speak to our common desire to make a nation that is safe and
strong and secure.
More than half a century ago, this university
became the first to prepare women for professions that were formerly
reserved for men, including medicine, law, science, and journalism. At
about the same time, your government wrote women’s equality into your
constitution and guaranteed protections for women in employment. And
there have been other rights and protections for women encoded in Korean
law in subsequent decades.
These advances coincided with Korea’s
transformation from an undeveloped nation to a dynamic democracy, a
global economic power, and a hub of technology and innovation. The
inclusion of women in the political and economic equation, calling on
those talents and contributions from the entire population, not just the
male half, was essential to the progress that this country has made.
As
I have been on this first trip as Secretary of State, I have visited
Japan and Indonesia, and tomorrow I will be in China. I was very
impressed by my visit to Indonesia, a young democracy that is
demonstrating to the world that democracy, Islam, modernity, and women’s
rights can coexist. I met elected women officials. I met high appointed
members in the foreign ministry and other cabinet positions in the
government. It would be hard to imagine the progress that Indonesia has
made in the last ten years, moving from a stagnant autocracy to a
burgeoning democracy, without women being part of the reason.
And on
Sunday, I’ll meet with women in China to hear about their efforts to
improve opportunities for themselves in their own country, another
reason why women have to lead the way if there’s going to be higher
standards of living, a healthier population, and an actively engaged
citizenry.
But no country has yet achieved full equality for women.
We still have work to do, don’t we? And just a few weeks ago, President
Obama signed into law a new provision protecting women from salary
discrimination, a step that was overdue. So there is a lot ahead of us
to ensure that gender equality, as President Lee mentioned, becomes a
reality. And we also need to remain vigilant against a backlash that
tries to turn the clock back on women and human rights, countries where
leaders are threatened by the idea of freedom and democracy and women
are made the scapegoats. The abuses of women under the Taliban are
horrific reminders that just as women had been central to progress in
countries like ours, the reverse can happen as well.
Some of you may
have seen the news reports some weeks ago of young girls in Afghanistan
who were so eager to go to school, and every day they went off with a
real light in their eyes because they were finally able to learn. And
one day, a group of these young girls were assaulted by a group of
Taliban men who threw acid on them because they had the desire to learn.
We have to remain vigilant on behalf of women’s rights.
We see this
kind of suppression in different forms in different places. In Burma,
the valor of Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her
courageous struggle for freedom of expression and conscience. To the
North, 70 percent of those leaving North Korea in search of a better
life are women, a sad commentary on the conditions in their own country.
So
part of my message during this trip and part of my mission as Secretary
of State is that the United States is committed to advancing the rights
of women to lead more equitable, prosperous lives in safe societies. I
view this not only as a moral issue, but as a security issue. I think
that it’s imperative that nations like ours stand up for the rights of
women. It is not ancillary to our progress; it is central.
In 1995,
when I went to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing and
said that women’s rights were human rights, and human rights were
women’s rights, people were so excited. But that to me was almost a sad
commentary that we had to say something so obvious toward the end of the
20th century.
So here we are in the 21st
century, and every day we make progress, but we can’t be complacent. We
have to highlight the importance of inclusion for women. We have to make
clear that no democracy can exist without women’s full participation;
no economy can be truly a free market without women involved.
I want
to use robust diplomacy and development to strengthen our partnerships
with other governments and create collaborative networks of people and
nongovernmental organizations to find innovative solutions to global
problems – what we call smart power.
Today, I’ve come to this great
women’s university to hear your thoughts about the future. The other
night in Tokyo, I had the privilege to listen to students at Tokyo
University, and I came away not only impressed by their intelligence and
the quality of their questions, but encouraged by their concern about
the future that lay ahead and what each of them wanted to do to make it
better.
Today, I’ve held bilateral meetings with your president, your
prime minister, and your foreign minister. We have discussed issues
like the need to continue the Six-Party Talks to bring about the
complete and verifiable denuclearization in North Korea, and how we can
better coordinate not only between ourselves, but regionally and
globally, on the range of issues that confront us. But in each meeting,
we took time to reflect about how far this country has come.
Back in
the early 1960s, there were a series of studies done where different
groups were looking at nations around the world, trying to calculate
which ones would be successful at the end of the 20th century. And many
commentators and analysts thought that the chances for the Republic of
Korea were limited. But that wasn’t the opinion of the people of Korea.
And so for 50 years, you have built a nation that is now assuming a
place of leadership in the world, respected for the vibrant democracy,
for the advances across the board in every walk of life. And it is a
tribute to your understanding of what it takes to make progress at a
time of peril and uncertainty.
The relationship between the United
States and Korea is deep and enduring, and it is indispensible to our
shared security. Without security, children can’t even imagine their
futures and may not have the potential to actually live up to their
talents. Our two countries have joined together as a force for peace,
prosperity, and progress. Korean and American soldiers have served
shoulder-to-shoulder in so many places around the world.
We know
that the most acute challenge to stability and security in Northeast
Asia is the regime in North Korea, and particularly its nuclear program.
It bears repeating that President Obama and I are committed to working
through the Six-Party Talks. We believe we have an opportunity to move
those forward and that it is incumbent upon North Korea to avoid
provocative actions and unhelpful rhetoric toward the people and the
leaders of the Republic of Korea. Remember that the North Korean
Government committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and returning at
an early date to the Treaty of Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
And
I make the offer again right here in Seoul: If North Korea is genuinely
prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons
program, the Obama Administration will be willing to normalize bilateral
relations, replace the peninsula’s longstanding armistice agreement
with a permanent peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and
other economic and humanitarian needs of the Korean people.
Also
essential to our shared security and prosperity is a resolution to the
global economic crisis. Korea and the United States have both benefited
from a strong economic relationship, and your leaders and I today
discussed ways we can develop that relationship further. We are going to
work on a vision of a much more comprehensive strategic relationship.
We want more partnerships to bring not just government leaders together,
but business and professional and academic and political and
people-to-people. We want to work with Korea so that both of us will be
leaders in getting at the root causes of global climate change and
vigorously pursuing a clean energy agenda. And I applaud your country
for being a global leader in this area, and for calling on the ingenuity
and skills of the Korean people to promote green technologies that will
create jobs and protect our planet and enhance our security.
Students
here at Ewha have a long and proud tradition of engagement with the
world. And you have the talent and the training to help shape that
world. It may not be always obvious what you can do to make a
difference, so do what you love. Do what gives you meaning. Do what
makes life purposeful for you. And make a contribution.
I don’t know
that Mary Scranton, who founded this university teaching one student in
her home, could have ever dreamed of where we would be today. But
that’s often the way life is. I never could have dreamed that I could be
here as the Secretary of State of the United States either. (Applause.)
You have to be willing to prepare yourselves and as you are doing to
take advantage of the opportunities that arise, to find cooperative ways
to work with others to promote the common good, and then follow your
dreams. You may not end up exactly where you started out heading toward,
but with your education and with the opportunities now available in
your country, there is so much that you can do. And I know that you will
be well-equipped to make your contribution that will contribute to the
peace and prosperity and progress and security, not only of Korea, but
of the region and the world that needs and is waiting for your talents.
Thank you all and God bless you. (Applause.)
And now we’re going to have some questions, I think, right? (Laughter.)
MODERATOR: (In Korean.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, so many hands. (Laughter.) Yes, right there. Here comes a microphone.
QUESTION:
Good afternoon, Madame Secretary. Welcome to Korea and welcome to Ewha
Women’s University. It’s an honor to have you here with us today. I’ve
read your biography before and you mentioned that you were once
interested in for working for NASA. If you had not gone to law school
and if you had not pursued your current career as Secretary of State,
where and as who would you picture yourself now? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, that’s a – (laughter) – that’s a hard question. Now, there is an
astronaut here. Where is she? Where’s my astronaut that I met? There she
is. There she is right there. (Applause.) I told her when I met her –
(cheers and applause) – my dream was to be an astronaut when I was about
13 or 14 years old and the United States was starting its space
program. So I wrote a letter to the NASA space agency and asked how I
could become an astronaut. (Laughter.) And I got a letter back saying
that they weren’t accepting women. (Chorus of boos, laughter, applause.)
Now,
I have to be very honest with you. I could never have qualified.
(Laughter.) But it was a dream, and I have been thrilled to see young
women follow that dream and do so with such skill.
Now, it’s hard to
think about what I would have done, because I have taken a path that has
been very satisfying to me. But there are so many paths that can be.
When I was younger, I went from wanting to be an astronaut to wanting to
be a journalist to wanting to be a doctor. I had so many different
ideas in mind.
But I did become a lawyer, and I initially used my
legal education on behalf of children. I worked for something called the
Children’s Defense Fund. And I was particularly concerned about
children who were abused or neglected or deprived in some way, and that
was very important work to me. I also taught law and I practiced law. If
you had asked me 20 years ago, would I ever run for office, I would
have said no. I was very proud of my husband’s work, but I never thought
that I would do that. I was satisfied being a lawyer and working as an
advocate, particularly for children.
But when I was asked to consider
running for office, I thought hard about it, and I will tell you the
story about why I decided to do it. I had been a lawyer, I had been a
law professor, I had been an advocate, I had been a First Lady of the
United States because of my husband’s presidency – (laughter) – and that
was a wonderful experience serving my country. So in 1998, at the end
of that year, the Senator from New York, Senator Moynihan, decided to
retire. And people in New York started asking me if I would run for the
Senate. And I said no, no, of course not, I won’t do that that makes no
sense to me. And they kept asking and they kept asking, and I kept
saying no. And they were very persistent. (Laughter.) And I have to tell
you a little secret. Some of it was because they couldn’t find anybody
else to do it. (Laughter.)
And I was at an event in New York City as
First Lady promoting women in sports, because I’m not a very good
athlete, but I’ve always loved sports and I’ve played volleyball and
softball and tennis. And so I’ve always thought that having young women
involved in sports was very good. And there was a banner behind me which
said “Dare to Compete.” That was the name of the special on women in
sports. So this young woman, the basketball captain of this high school,
introduced me. And she was much taller than me. (Laughter.) So she
finished introducing me, and I went up to shake her hand and thank her,
and she leaned over and she said, “Dare to compete, Mrs. Clinton. Dare
to compete.” (Laughter.)
And I pass that on to you because sometimes
you have to be willing to take a risk. And running for office, which I
had never done before, and I’m – looking back on it now, not even sure
how I did it, because it was quite challenging, was something that I am
very happy I ended up doing, even though it was hard. And then when I
ran for president, that was really hard. (Laughter.) But I learned so
much and I had such an extraordinary experience. So it’s difficult for
me to sort of run back through my mind and think of any other path,
because this is the life that I’ve both lived and chosen.
Now, when
President Obama asked me to be Secretary of State, I was really
surprised. And I had to think very hard about that because I loved being
a Senator from New York. But I concluded that working with President
Obama on behalf of my country at this time was important. And so I said
yes. And look where I get to come; I get to come to Ewha and see all of
you. (Cheers and Applause.)
Out here somewhere. I see there’s a hand. There’s a hand right there that I think the microphone can get to. Yes, okay.
QUESTION:
I’m currently studying English language and literature. (Inaudible),
and I saw that you are one of the most influential leader in the world,
and I think you also have some obstacles in coming to where you are
today. So my question is that how have you realized these experiences to
become (inaudible), especially now as Secretary of State? Thank you
very much. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Well, I
have been fortunate because I’ve had a very strong family and a very
strong faith and very good friends. And so no matter what happens in
your life, whatever obstacles you may encounter, you’re very fortunate
if you have people who will support you and if you have a faith that
will sustain you. And that has been my personal experience.
I think
that every life faces challenges. No one escapes without difficulties.
The real question is: How do you respond? And we all know people who are
just amazing the way they can overcome obstacles, and we know other
people who just seem to give up. And I don’t know all the reasons why
that happens in a life, but I do know that being a good friend to
someone in need and supporting people who are going through a hard time
is very important.
One of the phrases that I keep in mind is “the
discipline of gratitude.” No matter how difficult a day can be or a
problem may be, find something to be grateful for every day. Today on my
way to the meetings with the foreign minister and the president and the
prime minister, I saw flowers everywhere. (Laughter and Applause.) And
it was so wonderful to see. And walking in the foreign ministry
building, I saw, pots of flowers being nurtured – (laughter) – so that
they will spring forth and see blossoms already there. And so although
it’s cold outside – (laughter) – I was very grateful that people have
thought enough about the symbols of hope and spring that flowers bring,
and that there they were for us to enjoy.
So I think that it is just a
question of what you decide inside yourself and how you determine
you’ll meet whatever obstacle life throws your way. And I wish all of
you friends and family and faith and all the other sources of strength
that can make a difference for you, and to be grateful for something
every single day no matter how hard it looks. (Applause.)
Yes. Here comes the microphone.
QUESTION:
Madame Secretary, you look stunning today. I’m a junior in English
literature. My question is, in Korea, (inaudible) is also in progress,
but the word (inaudible). So do you think this is the right time to
bring Korean innovation, and what’s the outlook for the success?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Great question. (Laughter.) And we talked a lot about that in our
meetings today. Your president has talked about low-carbon green growth.
We talk about it – a Green New Deal. We talk about clean technology and
energy efficiency. I think we have to do it now, and I also believe
that despite the difficult economy, there are opportunities for new jobs
that will help to grow the economy into recovery.
Now, this is going
to be one of the most important issues for the Obama Administration,
and we are looking to partner with your country and others, because the
problem of global climate change and the increasing effects of this on
our environment and on our health is costing us money. We’ve done some
studies in the United States that breathing the emissions that come from
coal-fired power plants and from exhaust from tailpipes of vehicles
makes people sick. It creates asthmatic conditions and other health
problems. We know that we will have increasing droughts and other
problems in the world because of what’s happening.
So you know all
of this. You’re studying it. You see it. The real question is: Do the
people of the world, and particularly the leaders of the world, have the
will to help lead us in a new direction?
Now, what we have tried to
do with our stimulus package to try to get our economy growing again is
to put money into that package that will incentivize different energy
choices. So there will be money for retrofitting buildings so they’ll be
more energy efficient, money to enhance the development of cleaner
energy appliances and vehicles. We’re trying to change behaviors while
we change the economy.
Now, for some countries, that will be harder
than for other countries, which is why the United States must lead. And
I’m very proud that President Obama has made a total u-turn away from
the policies of the past eight years. We cannot deny or ignore the
global climate change problem. The question is: How do we effectively
address it so that we don’t cause more economic dislocation?
And I
think if we’re smart enough and we work together and we don’t get
discouraged, we will see progress this year leading up to the Copenhagen
conference at the end of the year. On this trip, for example, I brought
with me the Special Envoy for Climate Change that President Obama and I
appointed, Todd Stern, so that he could meet with the people in your
government and the Japanese and the Indonesian and the Chinese
government who are working on climate change.
So yes, we have some
serious problems in the economy as it is trying to recover from this
global contraction, but we can’t postpone dealing with global climate
change. So let’s be smart; let’s be ingenious and innovative. When you
think about what this country has accomplished in the last 50 years,
think of what you could do leading the world in global climate change
and clean technology and science in the next 50 years.
And we’re
going to do our part in the United States. We’re going to try to get our
own domestic policy right, pass it, begin to deal with a cap-and-trade
and other approaches to controlling emissions in our own country. I’m
going to have a series of talks with the Chinese Government, because
last year China surpassed the United States as the largest emitter of
greenhouse gas emissions.
So all of us have to be part of the
solution. We can’t leave anybody out. And I think we have to do it now. I
don’t think we can wait, and we’re going to try to make real progress.
(Applause.)
Let’s see. Is there an aisle – I can’t see. Is there an
aisle back there? I don’t know how we can get to you. Oh, here comes
somebody. Okay. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Hi, Mrs. Clinton. Thank
you for being with us today. I’m actually a junior at the high school,
the Seoul foreign high school, which is right down yonder. (Laughter.)
And --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Down yonder? Is that in Korean terms? (Laughter.)
QUESTION:
You spoke a lot about being a woman and how women are a necessity to
the world right now. How has – especially being a mother. How has it
been dealing with other world leaders who aren’t as accepting of the
role of women for example, in different countries who don’t really
respect women? How has that been trying to get them to cooperate with
you as a female yourself?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I don’t
feel like I’ve had any problems either as a senator or in my short
tenure as Secretary of State, because I hold an official position and I
represent the – in the first case, the United States Senate, or in this
case, as the representative of the United States. So there is a funny
kind of difference that sometimes goes on in some countries that are not
particularly supportive of women in official positions. I think they
just kind of ignore the fact that they’re dealing with someone who’s a
woman. That seems to be almost a change that goes on in their mind.
So
I don’t have any problems with that, but I do believe that it’s
important for someone in my position to raise the role of women on an
ongoing basis, even in countries where women are not given full and
equal rights. So I don’t think it’s enough that people deal with me; I
want them to deal with their own women, I want them to think about
giving all women the rights to be fully functioning, productive
citizens. So that is part of the mission that I feel I carry as the
Secretary of State of the United States, and that’s what I intend to
promote as I travel around the world talking about a lot of these
important matters that are really at the core of the kind of future
we’re going to have for ourselves and our children. (Applause.)
QUESTION:
(Inaudible) meet you, Madame Secretary. I’m a student of Scranton
honors program majoring in (inaudible). I have a very simple question.
(Inaudible) student university, I am very curious about your college
life at the Wellesley. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I
loved Wellesley. I loved going to a women’s college, and I made so many
wonderful friends that are still my friends today. I went to Wellesley a
long time ago – (laughter) – and at that time, there were a lot of
universities in my country where women could not attend as full
students, so you couldn't attend a lot of the Ivy League universities.
They didn’t admit women. They had – some of them had separate colleges,
like Harvard had Radcliffe, for example.
And so when I was thinking
about going to college, going to those universities was not an option. I
could not have gone there. But even with that, I’m very glad that I
went to a women’s college. I feel like it helped to shape and support
me. It gave me opportunities for leadership, and the faculty was very
involved in our studies and provided advice about what we were thinking
of doing. So it’s just a wonderful experience. And for those of you who
have been to Wellesley, it’s a beautiful campus, and so you felt like
you were really out of the world for four years. You didn’t have to cope
with a lot of the problems that were waiting.
But what was
interesting is that for many, many years in the United States, graduates
of women’s colleges went to professional schools and into business and
into academia at a much higher percentage than women graduates of co-ed
universities. Now, I don’t think that is quite the same in our country
as it used to be, but that was very significant to me because so many of
the women I know today who are leaders in many fields in the United
States had a women’s college background. So I’m a very strong believer.
And as an alumni of Wellesley, I had the opportunity to speak and
discuss whether Wellesley should go co-ed, and I’ve always said no. I
think we need women’s colleges like Ewha and Wellesley to provide an
alternative for young women and to provide that supportive environment
that I certainly found when I went to Wellesley and that I think many of
you find here to help prepare you for the future. So I’m very, very
proud of Wellesley. (Applause.)
Do you have a microphone? Here, I’ll take one over there. Okay. Oh, too many hands. Too many hands. (Laughter.)
QUESTION:
Thank you for your speech, Madame Clinton. Welcome to the Ewha Womans
University. Considering the social atmosphere and social pressures, it’s
not easy for women to work and take care of their family at the same
time. Now, I thought you were quite successful in managing those two
different bills. But what do you think should be women’s primary
responsibility – her career or her family, or is there any alternative
ways to incorporate them together? Thank you. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON:
I think it’s important for each young woman to be true to herself. I
have many friends who have made different choices. I have friends who
were full-time devoted wives and mothers. I have friends who were
full-time professional women and either never married or, if they
married, did not have children. But most of my friends, including
myself, have balanced marriage, motherhood, and work. And that is the
more common pattern in the United States now.
And for some women it
is a difficult choice and there is no formula, because it depends so
much on your husband – (laughter) – so think hard – (laughter) – about
whether you have the same views on these important issues, whether you
have an understanding about how to manage your time. Because some young
women make a decision to postpone childbearing, some have their children
early and then go back to work. I mean, there’s many different ways of
making this happen, but it is hard if you don’t have a supportive
family. And I think that is one of the keys to helping you make the
decision.
But I also believe that society still makes it very hard
for women to balance family and work. It’s true in my country, where we
don’t have the kind of support for childcare – quality childcare, where
we often don’t have flexible work hours, where so many women who work
full-time feel like they are not fulfilling either their
responsibilities as a mother or their responsibilities as a worker.
They’re so torn by it. And it would be – it would make it so much easier
if there were more support generally from society and it wasn’t just
each person basically on her own.
So I think we have to look for ways
to create that support. If it’s not created society-wide, then create
it within a network of friends. Looking for ways to support each other
is so critical as you start out trying to make this balance.
But I
think the other piece of it is that, at the end of the day, you have to
live with yourself and nobody else can tell you how you’re going to
feel. I know so many – because I just know so many people over the
course of my lifetime who have made different choices. And the choice
your friend makes may not be the best choice for you. The choice your
mother made may not be the best choice for you. So try and be really
honest with yourself and how you will feel.
I had to – when I had my
daughter and I was working as a lawyer, nobody in this law firm where I
worked, because I was the first woman to be there, they – nobody had
ever coped with someone who was pregnant and about to have a baby.
(Laughter.) Nobody – none of my male partners and other lawyers even
wanted to talk about it. (Laughter.) They acted like if they didn’t look
at me -- (laughter) – it wouldn't necessarily be happening.
So when
I had Chelsea, in those days, we didn’t have anything like maternal
leave. Nobody was quite sure what to expect. And the day after I had
her, one of the lawyers that I worked with called me up at the hospital
and he said, “Well, when are you coming back to work?” (Laughter.) And I
said, “Well, I don’t know. I think I’ll take maternal leave.” And he
goes, “Well, what’s that?” (Laughter.) And I said, “Well, that means I’m
going to stay home for a couple months and take care of my baby.” “Oh,”
he said. “Oh, oh, okay.” (Laughter.)
But that shouldn’t be – we
should have a policy. There should be an understanding about how to
support – the most important work that is done in any society is raising
the next generation. There isn’t any more important work. We shouldn’t
make it so hard for bright, talented, educated young women to be able to
do their work and raise their family. And I hope that those of you who
wish to make that choice and balance that have the support you need,
both from your immediate family and from the larger society, so that you
can do it and do it well. (Applause.)
Well, let me see. Back there. I try to pick the aisles because it’s easier to get to, I guess. Here we go.
QUESTION:
Good afternoon, Madame Secretary. Welcome to Ewha and Korea. First of
all, thanks for the speech and what you said about doing what you love.
So I have a question related to love. (Laughter.) (Inaudible) was one of
the major reasons (inaudible) husband (inaudible), then presidential
(inaudible). How did you know your husband was (inaudible)? (Laughter
and Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah, I feel more like an
advice columnist than Secretary of State today. (Laughter.) How does
anybody describe love? I mean, poets have spent millennia writing about
love. Psychologists and authors of all sorts write about it. I think if
you can describe it, you may not fully be experiencing it because it is
such a personal relationship. I’m very lucky because my husband is my
best friend and he and I have been together for a very long time, longer
than most of you have been alive. (Laughter.)
We are – we have an
endless conversation. We never get bored. We get deeply involved in all
of the work that we do and we talk about it constantly. And I just feel
very fortunate that I have a relationship that has been so meaningful to
me over my adult life.
And I just wish all of you to have a
positive experience, whatever you choose to pursue in life, because it
makes life more interesting. It is something that gives real texture and
color, and it’s a learning experience. Let me put it that way. You
learn a lot about yourself in a relationship as well as the other
person. So it’s no longer Valentine’s Day. That was last week.
(Laughter.) But I think that personal relationships are really what is
most important in life.
I had a friend, a wonderful woman scientist
who was a pioneering woman physician and research endocrinologist. She
worked for many years at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. And
she once said something that I’ve always treasured. She said, in talking
about her life, near the end of her life, she said, “I’ve loved and
been loved, and all the rest is background music.” And so I think about
that a lot. So I wish you a lot of music as a foreground. (Applause.)
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, last question.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Oh, the last question. What a burden. (Laughter.) Okay, yes, can you
give the microphone to this young woman in pink? Thank you.
QUESTION:
Madame Secretary, thank you so much for giving me the last question.
The question (inaudible) about your daughter, Chelsea Clinton. Actually,
I saw your daughter when I was studying in United States, and I thought
she was so smart and great and was so sure about you and your campaign
at the time (inaudible) she is so like you. (Laughter.) So I’m pretty
sure that you (inaudible) her a lot. So can you just tell a little bit
about how special Chelsea is to you?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well,
thank you. Well, we could be here for hours. (Laughter and Applause.)
One of the most wonderful things about being a mother is watching your
child grow into an adult whom you like and admire. And that’s the way I
feel about my daughter. It’s not only that I love her because I’m her
mother and I’m very invested in her. I just really like her. I like
being with her. I like talking to her. I enjoy hearing about what she’s
doing in her life.
And I was very touched when she decided to
campaign so vigorously for my election because she’s always been very
supportive but very private and not wanting to get out and make public
speeches and all of that. But she traveled with me during the campaign
and she, I think, had two experiences. One, she realized how much ground
there was to cover and how many people there were out there to see and
talk to. And I think she also was surprised by what she saw as sort of
remnants of gender bias in some of the encounters that we had in the
campaign.
She was with me one day in New Hampshire when some young
men jumped and unfurled a sign that said, “Iron my shirts” and were
yelling at me. She just had never experienced that. She thought that was
ancient history, where you read about that in a textbook somewhere.
(Laughter.) And she was so surprised, because she’d gone to Stanford,
she had gone to Oxford, and she had a very great educational experience
and then a really challenging work experience.
So she wanted to
help. And she said, look, I’ll go (inaudible) and that’s probably where
you saw her out campaigning for me at one of the more than 400 places
that she campaigned for me around the country. And I was just so touched
that she was willing to do that, because it’s a sacrifice to be the
child or the relative of someone in public life, because it’s hard. And
you have to avoid taking everything that happens personally. And it’s a
difficult experience.
So I just watched her just get better and
better and better at what she did and how she communicated. And I’m just
very fortunate because we are lucky enough to have a very supportive
relationship. She and her dad and I spend a lot of time together, along
with her friends. She’s got a great group of friends.
And so for me,
it’s the most wonderful part of being a mother because you can see the
result of this tiny baby that you were introduced to all those years ago
turn into an extraordinary young woman. Because again, nobody gives you
a instruction book about being a mother. And I remember one night when
Chelsea was like a week or two old and she was just crying and crying
and it was the worst feeling when you’re a new mother and you can’t get
your baby to stop crying and you don’t know what’s causing it. And you
think that it must be something like an emergency, that you should run
to the hospital and get help, and all it is is she’s a baby. And so I
was rocking her in the middle of the night and I said to her, I said,
look, you’ve never been a baby before, and I’ve never been a mother
before. (Laughter.) We just have to figure this out together, and that’s
what we’re still doing. Every new experience we’re just figuring it out
together.
And I just wish for all of you the most joyous and
challenging and exciting opportunities ahead. It is a wonderful time to
be a young woman in the first part of the 21st century. I
know I’m having experiences and opportunities that my mother, who was
born before women could vote in the United States, could never have
dreamed of, and certainly neither of my grandmothers. And you are living
lives that for many of you, your mothers and grandmothers could never
have envisioned. So it is an extraordinary opportunity. It is also a
responsibility. And I wish for each of you a life filled with purpose
and meaning and joy. And thank you for letting me come talk to you
today. (Cheers and Applause.)
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