She made it.

Finally.

Hillary Clinton has gone from First Lady to U.S. Senator to Secretary of State to, now, Democratic Party’s nominee for president.

Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton greets supporters at a primary election night rally, Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in New York. (AP)

It sets up a historic presidential election in November: the first woman nominated by a major political party versus a businessman, the first nominee since 1952 who has not held public office.

Both Clinton and Donald Trump have work to do to unite their respective parties behind their candidacies. Clinton’s Democratic primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, has yet to concede, although he has sounded more conciliatory.

Trump has more work to do, thanks to his comments about a federal judge of Mexican descent who is presiding over a lawsuit involving Trump University — comments that have been called racist by foes and supporters alike. One Republican senator seeking re-election retracted his endorsement of Trump. Pressure will build for others to do the same.

Election Day is five months away. By then, history may take a back seat to histrionics.

The True Grit of Hillary Clinton

Paul Waldman – The Week

FILE – Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton celebrate at her New York primary campaign headquarters in New York City, April 19, 2016.

There’s an oft-told joke about Hillary and Bill Clinton, which goes like this: The couple are driving along when they stop to get some gas, and it turns out that the attendant is a high-school boyfriend of Hillary’s. As they’re pulling away, Bill says, “Just think — if you had married him, today you’d be a gas station attendant’s wife.” Hillary shakes her head and says, “No, Bill, if I had married him, today he’d be president of the United States.”

It’s not really true — when Bill and Hillary met at Yale Law School, they were both superstars in the making. But she subsumed her political ambitions to his, because that’s just what women did back then. And she traveled a long and tiring path to where she has finally come: Hillary Clinton is the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, with a better than even chance of becoming the first woman president of the United State

Hillary Clinton’s Triumph, and Burden

Editorial Board – The New York Times

Now comes more hard work for Mrs. Clinton. Many in this newest generation of American voters say that they don’t trust her, or that she represents a Washington disconnected from their struggles. They backed Bernie Sanders and his demand that government provide health care, education and opportunity for everyone. Among some of his supporters there will be lingering frustration and a belief that the party’s leaders conspired to deprive them of their choice….

Unless she makes a substantial effort to win them over, they might stay home, and low turnout historically helps Republicans.

Releasing transcripts of her paid speeches to Wall Street would signal her commitment to reversing these perceptions. So, too, would clearly acknowledging what the State Department inspector general has said: that using a private email server for official business was not allowed or encouraged, but she did it anyway, in a misguided effort to protect her privacy.

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hold up letters to spell out the significance of the day’s voting results during a presidential primary election night rally in New York, June 7, 2016.

Hillary Clinton’s Remarkable Comeback

Peter Beinart – The Atlantic

In purely political terms, Clinton’s victory—after losing the Democratic nomination in 2008—constitutes the greatest comeback by a presidential candidate since Richard Nixon won the Republican nomination in 1968, after losing the presidential election of 1960.

Many forget how devastating Clinton’s 2008 loss was. Over the course of the campaign, her party’s most powerful leaders—people she had worked with for decades—betrayed her….

Over the past 30 years, no American political figure has absorbed as many blows as Clinton. And none has responded with more tenacity and grit. Trump talks endlessly about strength. Clinton embodies it.