BARBARA BUSH .

Rarely has a first lady been greeted by the American people and the press with the approbation and warmth accorded to Barbara Pierce Bush. People are comfortable with her warm, relaxed manner and keen wit. With characteristic directness, she says people like her because they know "I'm fair and I like children and I adore my husband."

Barbara Pierce was born on June 8, 1925, and grew up in the suburban town of Rye, New York. She went to boarding school at Ashley Hall in South Carolina. It was at a dance when she was only 16 that she met George Bush. They became engaged just before he went off to war as a Navy torpedo bomber pilot. When George returned on leave, Barbara had dropped out of Smith College. Two weeks later, on January 6, 1945, they were married.

After the war, they set out for Texas to start their lives together. Six children were born to them: George, Robin, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. In the first 44 years of marriage, while her husband built a business in the oil industry and held a variety of political and public service positions, Mrs. Bush managed 29 moves of the household. She became the family linchpin, providing everything from discipline to carpools. The death of their daughter Robin from leukemia when she was not quite four left them with a lifelong compassion. She says, "Because of Robin, George and I love every living human more."

Barbara Bush was always an asset to her husband during his campaigns for public office. Her friendly, forthright manner won her high marks from the voters and the press. As wife of the vice president, she selected the promotion of literacy as her special cause. As first lady, she called working for a more literate America the "most important issue we have." Involved with many organizations devoted to this cause, she became honorary chairman of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. A strong advocate of volunteerism, Mrs. Bush helped many causes - including the homeless, the elderly, AIDS, and school volunteer programs.

Today Barbara Bush lives in a home she and her husband built in Houston, Texas, where she enjoys being part of the community. Their children and grandchildren visit them often in Houston and at the family summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Devoted to her family, Mrs. Bush has found time to write an autobiography, to serve on the Boards of AmeriCares and the Mayo Clinic, and to continue her prominent role in the Barbara Bush Foundation.

HILLARY CLINTON .

During the 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton observed, "Our lives are a mixture of different roles. Most of us are doing the best we can to find whatever the right balance is . . . For me, that balance is family, work, and service."

Hillary Diane Rodham was born on October 26, 1947. Her childhood in Park Ridge, Illinois was happy and disciplined. She loved sports and her church, was a member of the National Honor Society, and a student leader. As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, Hillary mixed academic excellence with school government. Entering Yale Law School in 1969, she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and Social Action, interned with children's advocate Marian Wright Edelman, and met Bill Clinton. They became inseparable-partners in moot court, political campaigns, and matters of the heart.

After graduation, Hillary advised the Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge and joined the impeachment inquiry staff advising the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. Completing these responsibilities, she "followed her heart to Arkansas," where Bill had begun a political career. They married in 1975. She joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School in 1975 and the Rose Law Firm in 1976. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation, and Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980.

Mrs. Clinton was Arkansas's first lady for 12 years, chairing the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founding the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and serving on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Legal Services, and the Children's Defense Fund.

As America's first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton continued to balance public service and private life. Chairing the National Commission on Health Care Reform, she convened hearings around the nation, testified before Congress, and helped craft legislation. She led the fight to pass the Children's Health Insurance Program; worked to increase funding for cancer research and treatment, osteoporosis and juvenile diabetes; and supported the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban.

Although her activities sometimes led to controversy, Mrs. Clinton won many admirers for her commitment to children's and women's issues. Her book It Takes A Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us was a best seller and she received a Grammy for her recording of it. Her weekly column drew attention to issues confronting families. In 2000, Hillary Rodham Clinton made history again when, after a 16-month campaign, she was elected to the U.S. Senate by the State of New York.