Chelsea Clinton runs Boston Marathon below pseudonym with refined political message as heartfelt gesture at end line is revealed
Chelsea Clinton made her way across the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, where she was greeted by her parents, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The two politicians smiled broadly as they gave their 46-year-old daughter a shiny gold finisher’s medal after she completed the race in three hours and 40 minutes – at a pace of eight minutes and 26 seconds.
She also urged her parents to give medals to the police officers who ran alongside her for the race, which they did, Runner’s World reports.
Following the 26.2-mile marathon, the former First Daughter said she had an ‘amazing race’ and had ‘so much fun out there’ as she ran alongside her friend Jen Kloss.
But Clinton didn’t run the race under her own, recognizable name.
Instead, she opted to use the name ‘Margaret Chase Smith,’ an apparent homage to the first women to serve in both the United States House of Representatives and Senate, according to NBC Boston.
Smith was also the first woman to actively seek a major political party’s nomination for president.
Clinton has written about Smith before, featuring her in her ‘She Persisted’ book series, as well as ‘The Book of Gutsy Women,’ which Clinton co-wrote with her mother.
Chelsea Clinton finished the Boston Marathon on Monday in three hours and 40 minutes
She was greeted at the finish line by her parents, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who gave her a gold finisher’s medal
Smith’s foray into politics began after her husband, Clyde Smith, was elected to the House of Representatives as a congressman from Maine in 1936, when Margaret decided to manage his Washington office.
Chelsea ran under the name Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to serve in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate
Four years later, Smith won her husband’s seat in a special election following his death, and went on to win the general election that fall.
She wound up serving as a US representative from 1940 through 1949, after which she served as a US senator from 1949 to 1973.
But in 1964, Smith also decided to run for president of the United States, picking up Republican primary votes in a number of states.
At that year’s Republican National Convention, Smith came in second to Barry Goldwater.
For her efforts over the years, Smith received a number of honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the League of Women Voters Carrie Chapman Catt Award and the eponymous National Association of Secretaries of State Margaret Chase Smith Award.
Smith died on May 29, 1995.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Chelsea for comment on her choice of pseudonym.
