--- title: Hillary Clinton Inspired Nikki Haley To Run For Office description: Trump's UN Ambassador pick, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, says she ran for office because of Hillary Clinton. canonical: https://time.com/4584678/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton-un-trump/ author: Megan Lasher article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-29T17:59:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:58.751Z og:title: Nikki Haley Once Said Hillary Clinton Inspired Her to Run for Office og:description: She has since said a Clinton presidency would be 'disastrous' og:url: https://time.com/4584678/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton-un-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt819b0dfd156f6d91/6988aff2ab6d7702f96ac163/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 18: Nikki Haley, Governor, South Caro og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nikki Haley Once Said Hillary Clinton Inspired Her to Run for Office twitter:description: She has since said a Clinton presidency would be 'disastrous' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt819b0dfd156f6d91/6988aff2ab6d7702f96ac163/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Governor Nikki Haley Credited Hillary Clinton With Inspiring Her to Run for Office by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Nov 29, 2016 5:59 PM UTC  Nikki Haley, Governor, South Carolina, speaks during the 2016 National Lawyers Convention of The Federalist Society at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., November 18, 2016\. During her speech the governor addressed the need for the country to heal and to work together. Nikki Haley, Governor, South Carolina, speaks during the 2016 National Lawyers Convention of The Federalist Society at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., November 18, 2016\. During her speech the governor addressed the need for the country to heal and to work together.Astrid Riecken—The Washington Post via Getty Images) by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Nov 29, 2016 5:59 PM UTC A major message that Hillary Clinton sent throughout her campaign was that she hopes more women get involved in politics so that we can eliminate the gender gap in DC. But that message long preceded the 2016 election. Trump’s UN Ambassador pick, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, is proof: In a 2012 interview, Haley told the New York _Times_ [says she ran for office because of Clinton](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx%5Ffactor/2016/11/28/hillary%5Fclinton%5Fs%5Finspiring%5Fwords%5Fgot%5Fnikki%5Fhaley%5Fto%5Frun%5Ffor%5Foffice.html). [Slate](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx%5Ffactor/2016/11/28/hillary%5Fclinton%5Fs%5Finspiring%5Fwords%5Fgot%5Fnikki%5Fhaley%5Fto%5Frun%5Ffor%5Foffice.html) resurfaced the interview in a recent column. Haley had said women aren’t in office because [they simply aren’t running](http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/a-conversation-with-nikki-haley/?%5Fr=0). “It’s not because the challenge is too hard. It’s simply because women don’t run.” Seeing another woman set the bar pushed her to change that. “The reason I actually ran for office is because of Hillary Clinton. Everybody was telling me why I shouldn’t run: I was too young, I had small children, I should start at the school board level. I went to Birmingham University, and Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker on a leadership institute, and she said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn’t but that’s all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking, ‘That’s it. I’m running for office.'” Of course, that doesn’t mean Haley agrees with Clinton on everything. Earlier this year, she voiced a negative opinion of the presidential nominee: “President Obama was awful the last eight years — a President Clinton would be disastrous,” [Haley said](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/20/sc-gov-haley-urges-defeat-clinton-without-mentioning-trump/87342054/), not endorsing Trump but certainly urging fellow Republicans against his rival. After the election, many women came forward and pledged to change the scope of politics by getting involved. “We have heard from women across the country who are raising their hands to be part of the solution,” the spokeswoman for Emily’s List, a committee that seeks to elect Democratic women, [told _The Washington Post._](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hopes-for-a-female-president-dashed-women-consider-entering-politics-themselves/2016/11/26/1620b182-b043-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25%5Fstory.html) Read more [at Slate.com](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx%5Ffactor/2016/11/28/hillary%5Fclinton%5Fs%5Finspiring%5Fwords%5Fgot%5Fnikki%5Fhaley%5Fto%5Frun%5Ffor%5Foffice.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4584678/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton-un-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4584678/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton-un-trump/"},"headline":"Republican Governor Nikki Haley Credited Hillary Clinton With Inspiring Her to Run for Office","datePublished":"2016-11-29T17:59:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:58.751Z","description":"Donald Trump picked Haley for his UN Ambassador","url":"https://time.com/4584678/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton-un-trump/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt819b0dfd156f6d91/6988aff2ab6d7702f96ac163/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Lasher","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt819b0dfd156f6d91/6988aff2ab6d7702f96ac163/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 18: Nikki Haley, Governor, South Caro","caption":"Nikki Haley, Governor, South Carolina, speaks during the 2016 National Lawyers Convention of The Federalist Society at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., November 18, 2016. During her speech the governor addressed the need for the country to heal a","creditText":"Astrid Riecken—The Washington Post via Getty Images)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4584678/nikki-haley-hillary-clinton-un-trump/","name":"Republican Governor Nikki Haley Credited Hillary Clinton With Inspiring Her to Run for Office"}}]}] ```