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.

LAURA BUSH .

A self-professed bookworm, Laura Bush grew up with a passion for literature that heavily influences her life. The only child of Harold and Jenna Welch, she was born and reared in Midland, Texas. When Laura was a child, her mother took her to the local library where they chose books to take home and read together. A love of reading translated into a keen interest in education. In a speech to the 2000 Republican National Convention, Mrs. Bush said, "Growing up, I practiced teaching my dolls. Years later, our daughters did the same thing. We used to joke that the Bush family had the best educated dolls in America."

Laura dreamed of being a teacher, and credits her own second grade teacher for helping to cement that dream. With a bachelor's degree in education from Southern Methodist University, Laura taught reading to grade school students in Dallas. Then she realized what she enjoyed most was reading to children. She earned her master's degree in library science from the University of Texas at Austin, and began working as a school librarian.

Laura Welch's life crossed paths several times with George W. Bush's before they were introduced. He went to a rival elementary school, but they attended junior high school together. After college, they lived in the same Houston apartment complex. But the two did not meet until mutual friends invited them to a backyard barbecue in Midland. They knew it was a match. Three months later, they married. Their twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna (named for their grandmothers), were born in 1981.

After her husband was elected Texas governor in 1994, Laura Bush launched an early childhood development initiative to help prepare infants and young children for learning and reading when they enter school. She helped organize the Texas Book Festival, which became an annual fundraiser for public libraries. She promoted historic preservation, the arts, Texas tourism, and volunteerism. She also called attention to women's health issues and to Alzheimer's Disease, which her father suffered from before his death in 1995.

When George W. Bush decided to run for president, she hit the campaign trail with him--a bit reluctantly at first. "When George asked me to marry him, he promised me I'd never have to give a speech. So much for political promises," she quipped. Yet, Mrs. Bush's top priority remained her family. She often returned home to spend time with Barbara and Jenna, then seniors in high school. Her strong support at home and positive influence on the road helped the family through the campaign. In January 2001, her husband was sworn in as 43rd president of the United States.