--- title: Hillary Clinton Launches Bid for President With Video Announcement description: The former secretary of state launched her campaign with a short video featuring a diverse coalition of voters that Clinton hopes to attract canonical: https://time.com/3818768/hillary-clinton-white-house-bid-2016-election/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-12T20:16:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:12.229Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Officially Launches White House Bid og:description: In a video announcement posted Sunday og:url: https://time.com/3818768/hillary-clinton-white-house-bid-2016-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea295ccfe0eed871/6987eabb428a9e6f9bccadd3/ap917765527435_2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1925 og:image:height: 1083 og:image:alt: In this image taken from video posted to hillaryclinton.com Hillary Rodham Clinton announces her campaign for president on April 12, 2015, og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Officially Launches White House Bid twitter:description: In a video announcement posted Sunday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea295ccfe0eed871/6987eabb428a9e6f9bccadd3/ap917765527435_2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Launches Second Bid for the White House > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=480d3a02-27e8-4e54-93d4-2c890f996146&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Hillary Clinton's Top 10 Political Moments [Watch (HLS stream): Hillary Clinton's Top 10 Political Moments](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L3I0gpwt.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2015-04-09. Watch the top 10 moments from Hillary Clinton's career in politics._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) Apr 12, 2015 8:16 PM UTC  In this image taken from video posted to hillaryclinton.com Hillary Rodham Clinton announces her campaign for president on April 12, 2015, In this image taken from video posted to hillaryclinton.com Hillary Rodham Clinton announces her campaign for president on April 12, 2015, AP by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) Apr 12, 2015 8:16 PM UTC How do you announce something that everyone already knows is coming? You take your time. Hillary Clinton’s second campaign for President began Sunday afternoon with an understated video announcement—not the balloons, grand speeches or live-televised arena announcements that White House hopefuls traditionally employ. The presumptive Democratic nominee jumped into the 2016 race with an announcement that was as modest as the Clinton juggernaut could manage. The former Secretary of State and First Lady doesn’t appear in the first half of the video that officially launches her campaign. She won’t even hold her first campaign rally until May. The Sunday roll-out was crafted to spotlight Clinton’s promise to run her campaign differently from eight years ago, when she entered with all the pomp of a dominant frontrunner but was defeated by the upstart Senator Barack Obama. The Obama-esque message: “it’s your time.” “Everyday Americans need a champion. I want to be that champion,” Clinton declares. **MORE:** [Hillary Clinton’s Main Obstacle: Her Own Inevitability](http://time.com/3774585/hillary-clintons-main-obstacle-her-own-inevitability/) The two-and-a-half minute video features an African-American couple expecting a baby, a young man starting a career in a fifth-generation owned factory, a young woman applying for her first job after college, a gay couple preparing to get married and two Hispanic brothers opening their first business. “I’m running for President,” Clinton says, two-thirds of the way into the video message, which was posted on her newly redesigned website, Facebook page and Twitter account. “Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top,” Clinton adds, adopting a populist theme designed to appeal both to her party’s base and to middle-class Americans. “Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion. So you can do more than just get by, you can get ahead and stay ahead.” Clinton enters the presidential contest with a nearly unprecedented profile. After more than two decades in the national spotlight, she is the definitive frontrunner among Democrats, and polls ahead of all likely Republican candidates in most surveys. But she remains one of the most deeply polarizing national figures, drawing almost as many detractors and supporters, and with almost 100% name identification, nearly everyone has a well-formed opinion of her for better for worse. The kickoff message was heavy on humility, oriented more toward the voters she will court in the coming months than her own qualifications. Clinton will soon travel to Iowa and New Hampshire to make inroads in the early primary states, where she’ll hold small events and meet caucus and primary voters who remain skeptical of a Clinton candidacy after her 2008 campaign. **MORE:** [Liberal Groups Respond to Hillary Clinton Campaign Launch](http://time.com/3818704/hillary-clinton-campaign-launch-liberals/) Instead of emphasizing her battle-readiness and experience, the video is more upbeat and casual. Her logo is a modern blue and red “H,” styled with an arrow. Even the name of her campaign committee has been adjusted to signal her new focus on voters this time around. The 2008 committee was called “Friends of Hillary,” but now it is the more inclusive “Hillary for America.” “I’m hitting the road to earn your vote,” Clinton says, “because it’s your time and I hope you’ll join me on this journey.” Her last campaign was doomed by perceived inevitability, a backbiting political apparatus and a wooden candidate. In an attempt to avoid a repeat of the drama-filled 2008 effort, on Saturday, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook sent a memo to staffers that stated that the campaign’s themes included diversity, discipline and humility. Clinton has already assembled a massive political team of hundreds working out of a Brooklyn Heights office space, drawing on both the Clinton and Obama networks. Her announcement sets off a fundraising blitz, unleashing an army of Democratic fundraisers who have been sitting dormant and waiting for Clinton to officially declare. Clinton’s team is looking to raise well over $1.5 billion for her effort, while Republicans are planning to use her official entrance to activate their own donors. The announcement came first in an email from campaign chairman John Podesta, who emailed Clinton campaign alumni, donors and members of Congress minutes before the video was posted. “I wanted to make sure you heard it first from me – it’s official: Hillary’s running for president,” Podesta wrote. “She is hitting the road to Iowa to start talking directly with voters. There will be a formal kickoff event next month, and we look forward to seeing you there.” _Read next:_ [_The Clinton Way_](http://time.com/3741847/the-clinton-way/) ## Transcript You know, I'm not sittin' here some little woman standing here by my man like Tammy Wynette. I'm sittin' here because I love him, and I respect him. Now is our chance to beat the historical odds, and give the American people the health security they need. If there is one message that echoes forth from this. Let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights once and for all. The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right- wing conspiracy that has been conspiring. Against my husband since the day he announced for president. I would be happy to, when you give me the signed letters. Well, right here. Right here. When you give me. Right here. Sign it right now. We'll shake. We'll shake on this, Ray. No, no, I want your signature, cause I think that everybody wants to see you signing something that you said you were for. You know, I have so many opportunities from this country. I just don't wanna see us fall backwards. 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. The battle to stop Al Qaeda and its affiliates. Does not end with one death. What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator. I took the unprecedented step of asking that the state department make all my work- related emails, [ MUSIC ] Public for everyone to see. 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