Hillary Clinton Has Just Made History — REPORT

On Monday evening, the Associated Press declared Hillary Clinton the winner of the Democratic primary. Several states, including California and New Jersey, haven't yet voted in the primary and will do so on Tuesday. However, Clinton has won 1,812 pledged delegates in the previous contests, and according to AP, she has now secured enough commitments from superdelegates to bring her past the 2,383 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.

Clinton won't officially become the nominee until the convention in July, but once she does, she'll be the first woman in U.S. history to win the presidential nomination of a major political party. And by doing this, of course, she's poised to become the first woman president in American history.

The U.S., however, is anomalous in this respect. Women have served as heads of state or government in many other countries, some in places with less-than-stellar records on women's rights. Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the world's first female head of government in 1960, when she was elected to the prime ministership of Sri Lanka, and since then, over 50 countries worldwide have had a female head of state or head of government since then. Some nations have elevated multiple women to lead the country; for example, Switzerland has had five female presidents (including one who served multiple terms), more than any other country.

While Clinton will soon be the first female presidential nominee of a major party, two women before her have won the vice presidential nomination. Geraldine Ferraro became the first American woman to serve on a major party presidential ticket in 1984, when Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale chose her to serve as his running mate. Sarah Palin infamously ran as Republican nominee John McCain's running mate in 2008. However, neither McCain nor Mondale went on to win the presidency.

Clinton herself has been a fixture of American politics for over two decades. She served as First Lady, senator from New York state, and Secretary of State at various points since 1992, and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. According to Gallup, she's been the most admired woman in America for a total of 20 years, including 14 consecutive years between 2002 and 2016.

In November, Clinton will face off against the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, who has a history of rank sexism and bigotry, and possesses a toxic 24 percent favorability rating with women voters, according to an April poll.