Since losing the election in November, Hillary Clinton had tweeted only eight times—until last weekend, when millions of people, spurred by the victory of her political rival Donald J. Trump, marched for gender equality.
The Women's March on Washington and its sister events around the world had no ties to Clinton. Her name wasn't even included on its list of honorees recognized as "revolutionary leaders who paved the way for us to march."
SEE ALSO:Why Trump's presidency will require absolutely all your courageYet her influence was palpable in what could be the largest American demonstration ever. The mass of marches seemed to inspire a fighting spirit in Clinton dormant since her concession speech. Over a series of five tweets sent Saturday and Sunday, she expressed gratitude, hope, solidarity, joy and defiance.
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By the end of the weekend, Clinton shared a tweet that called for marching, organizing, running for office, and voting. "We have to keep the momentum," she wrote.
In doing so, Clinton cast herself not as a leader of the resistance, but a grateful and inspired servant more interested in progress for all than a pedestal for her ego. If Clinton chooses to embrace it, she still holds enormous power to energize this movement--and could become one of its guiding forces in the months and years to come. At the moment, though, she remains a new kind of political figure—more of an idol for weary Americans than a full-throated resistance leader.
All while the stakes for the opposition grow more alarming as Trump and his administration insist on "alternative facts" and demand the silence of government scientists.
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The Women's March helped crystallize what resistance to these strategies might look like, and though the organizers avoided explicitly using Clinton as its patron saint, her legacy was clear. The march's "unity principles" invoked the phrase she helped make famous in 1995: "Women's rights are human rights." Men carried signs that borrowed the Clinton campaign slogan "I'm with her," with arrows pointing sideways and downward at the women walking alongside them.
Women held "nasty woman" signs, name-checking a Trump insult that became a feminist rallying cry. Though the marchers didn't all vote for Clinton, they all seemed to be fighting for the same things: equal rights for all, racial justice, reproductive rights, and better opportunities for every family.
In the first few days of Trump's administration, Clinton has again gone silent on social media. It's either unfortunate for her supporters, or a deliberate strategy.
Her influence on digital culture is the inverse of Trump's. While he uses the public square to preen and retaliate at every available opportunity, Clinton's metered approach to public appearance now consistently inspires a level of widespread fascination, if not hope and resilience—even if those aren't her intentions. Every time she shows up lately, whether it's at The Color Purple, taking a walk in the woods, or attending Trump's inauguration, the moment almost invariably goes viral.
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For those who hold Clinton in contempt, it's more grist for their anger mill—nothing new. But for those sympathetic to Clinton, these appearances are an opportunity to take stock of their own capacity to survive in the wake of a crushing defeat, and remain committed to a cause.
As a meme, Clinton's most newsworthy moments often involve attempts to embarrass her, followed by pitch-perfect responses (think: that time she got hectored by Trump during a debate and answered with a feisty shimmy).
There might be no scene more humiliating than Clinton having to watch Trump take the presidential oath even though she won nearly 2.9 million more votes than he did. Clinton, of course, said on Twitter that her attendance as a former first lady and wife to President Bill Clinton was to "honor our democracy."
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Somehow, wearing a smile and a white pantsuit, Clinton seemed determined and confident when she stepped onto the inaugural stage. Both her supporters and critics noted her grit and grace on Twitter. The symbolism in that moment again reframed the stakes: If Clinton—who Trump routinely called corrupt, and threatened to jail—can stand tall in his presence, maybe the rest of America can too.
Clinton hasn't announced any post-election plans, but if she encouraged her constituency to focus on a specific political priority, like protecting Medicaid insurance for low-income children or opposing a Supreme Court justice nominee, that leadership could energize her despairing supporters and motivate others who might not be involved in grassroots activism.
I remain in awe of the strength and graciousness of @HillaryClinton.#RESIST pic.twitter.com/fLiDvIRWP6
— 🗽 (@leahmcelrath) January 20, 2017
Some on the left and right will always see her as the wrong messenger, but her popular vote victory gives Clinton an important legitimacy (one so potent, the sitting president continues to attack it four days into his term). It also means she can claim a much different role than John Kerry could after losing to George W. Bush in 2004.
That role, while potentially transformational, will still be challenging. She'll risk giving Trump and his surrogates more opportunities to portray those who resist as sore losers rather than principled Americans. She also can't eclipse the organizing efforts of people from marginalized communities, particularly if they are women of color. But it's hard to imagine Clinton becoming a historical footnote from this point forward. By her own testament, she cares too deeply about children and families, justice and equality, and the democratic experiment that is America.
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Clinton isn't going to please everyone with her policy positions, let alone, every liberal American. She's also made some regrettable mistakes over the past 25 years. Yet she could continue to play a unique role in convincing people to keep fighting. To paraphrase Michelle Obama, she's spent a lifetime going high when her enemies go low, which may explain why she's been the most admired woman in the U.S. for several years.
The next four years will test Clinton and her supporters in clearly unprecedented ways. Her political leadership and digital presence could be a critical element in a cynical, post-facts world that faces grave threats to its democratic institutions.
If it's a mantle she decides to take up with clear priorities for her own personal resistance, it could be the most important thing she's ever done.
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