Hillary Rodham Clinton is possibly the best study of the constructed ethos in opposition to the situated ethos that exists in the public political realm. Due to a significant political career spanning decades, the public figure of HRC can function as an artifact of visual rhetoric, and is interesting in that she is a study of the political Other that exists within the establishment. Recently, during her run for the presidency and before as the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has taken a more hands-on approach to her public image and has used her administrative sway, the inertia of her career, and her relationship to the media to empower her invented ethos as a powerful political figure.

The idea of the Other as a psychoanalytic and critical concept is directly applicable to Hillary’s situated ethos: up until perhaps the past decade, much of her political existence has been defined in relation to other individuals. Unless my understanding of the concept is flawed, which it may very well be, given feminist critical theory the Other’s existence is defined by the Subject. In the case of Bill Clinton as the President of the United States, he was the Subject and HRC the Other. Granted, HRC exercised her agency as the First Lady in order to attempt healthcare reform, but as the Parry-Giles essay notes, “the White House associated the First Lady more with children’s issues,” which is an example of an institution directing the figure of the non-Subject to what it feels is best: in this case, the “good mother” (377). She was looked up to in relation to “images of feminism, power, and fear” at the time, and yet she was not in complete control of her own image. This rose to a boiling point during the Lewinsky scandal, as her reaction to her husband’s infidelity was watched closely, and she became the figure of the “supportive wife” (378). Again, HRC is not the focus of the media, and her presence is defined by her husband’s actions and the actions of the institution he represents.

Ever since the conclusion of Bill’s presidency, HRC seized her agency and commanded her image far more and has moved from the figure of the Other into the Subject. As a Senator, Secretary of State, and presidential candidate, she has more often appeared visually divorced from her husband in media, usually with a stellar smile on her face (this depends on the network/site of course). While she is still a controversial person in power, as evidenced by the Whitewater, Benghazi, and her most recent email scandals, she nevertheless maintains a level of security in her image, which is proven by her popularity as a Democratic presidential candidate. Without having a popular public image, she wouldn’t have a chance.

HRC remains the example of visual rhetoric that we have studied to possess the most depth. Considering that the majority (last I checked) of the students in the class have chosen to write on her for their discussion posts, I feel that her figure is an excellent springboard into further discussion of rhetoric, primarily with regard to the study of ethos.