Hillary Clinton’s breakout moment at Wellesley College

Hillary Clinton’s moment of glory at Wellesley College came when she mounted the stage at her commencement ceremony and took on a powerful Republican U.S. senator, culminating four years of what her campaign now describes as “social-justice activism” on the burning issues of the time.

But the story not yet told is how out of character Clinton’s inflammatory Wellesley speech was. At a time when the country was questioning the system, Clinton was known for working squarely within it. She was a conciliator, not a bomb thrower.

On graduation day, the onetime Goldwater Girl reinvented herself as a provocative voice speaking for her angry generation. With the national media closely following campus upheaval that spring, Clinton stole the spotlight by rebuking a Washington symbol she had helped elect. She undercut Wellesley’s president, once her ally in tamping down campus unrest.