Don't back down
In 1969, Hillary Clinton (then Hillary Rodham) gave the first student-offered commencement address at Wellesley College. Before she spoke, Sen. Edward Brooke talked about how unnecessary protests were at the time, a complete counter to Rodham’s speech about a youth dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. Hillary spoke, and responded truthfully and gracefully to the senator’s remarks. She said that “we feel that for too long our leaders have viewed politics as the art of the possible. And the challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible.” Hillary didn’t back down in the face of someone who disagreed with a core belief, rather she stood up to them. Another Clinton memory gives us this same lesson. Her mother made her face her bullies rather than hide from them. When you face a bully and are in a position of strength, you don’t back down.
