Hillary Clinton makes history

It’s official: A woman has made history by becoming the first female presidential nominee of any major party in this nation’s history. Love her or hate her, give Hillary Clinton credit. It was a victory long in coming for a woman, any woman.

Tuesday was Ms. Clinton’s night as Democrats elevated her onto a plane higher than any other woman has stood in this country.

Ms. Clinton, the former first lady, New York senator and secretary of State, is now poised to shatter one of the last remaining glass ceilings in American politics.

The possibility brought some to tears at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia entered prime time on its second day.

It also prompted some Bernie Sanders supporters to walk out of the hall.

This is heady stuff for Americans who have trailed behind so many other nations in granting women this kind of stature. The word “history” was flying all over network and cable television, and rightly so.

Yes, the Brits had Margaret Thatcher, the Germans have Angela Merkel and long ago Israel had the leadership of Golda Meir. Now, Ms. Clinton is officially on the way to following in their footsteps.

Ms. Clinton, whether you like her or not, trust her or not, has gone further politically than any other woman in America. If only for her perseverance alone, she should be praised.

Although Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland emphasized the historic nature of the moment in nominating Ms. Clinton before the states’ roll call began, the momentous event sneaked up on us.

As state after state pledged their delegates to either Mr. Sanders or Ms. Clinton, it slowly began to sink in. Finally, South Dakota put her over the top of the 2,382-delegate threshold needed to win the nomination. It was indeed a vote made for the ages.

In recent days we’ve been distracted with the Democratic National Committee’s battle with Mr. Sanders’ supporters and the resignation of chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The magnitude of Ms. Clinton’s likely accomplishment had been overshadowed.

Should Ms. Clinton become the 45th president of the United States, it will be eight years after America elected its first African-American president. We should all take a bow. That is transformational progress in a country sometimes rocked by racial unease and one in which women still lack parity with men in too many areas.

There is no denying that despite numerous bumps in the political road, Ms. Clinton has reached a pinnacle of her long political career.

It’s never easy for her. Eight years after being outdone by a relative political newbie, Mr. Obama, Ms. Clinton’s inevitability took a big hit when she was blindsided by a one-in-a-million opponent, Mr. Sanders.

Truth be told, Ms. Clinton was not the only one who made history.

That a frumpy and cranky senator from Vermont inspired politically dormant young people, middle-aged people and seniors across the country was a political miracle. And that neither his age (74) nor his religion (Jewish) were controversial campaign issues was another indication of Americans’ progress, an encouraging sign of acceptance and open-mindedness that should be nurtured going forward, not spurned.

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Hillary Clinton makes history."