I wasn't born a first lady or a senator. I wasn't born a Democrat. I wasn't born a lawyer or an advocate for women's rights and human rights. I wasn't born a wife or mother. I was born an American in the middle of the twentieth century, a fortunate time and place. I was free to make choices unavailable to past generations of women in my own country and inconceivable to many women in the world today. I came of age on the crest of tumultuous social change and took part in the political battles fought over the meaning of America and its role in the world.

我并非生来就是第一夫人或联邦参议员，并非生来就是民主党员、律师或妇女权利与人权的倡导者，也并非生来就是妻子或母亲。我有幸生在20世纪中叶的美国，拥有过去美国妇女无法享有的种种自由选择，即使在今天，世界上仍有许多妇女觉得自由选择超乎想像。我在社会激剧变革的浪尖上长大，并投身各种政治论争，探讨美国所代表的意义及它在世界上的角色。

My mother and my grandmothers could never have lived my life; my father and my grandfathers couldn't have imagined it. But they bestowed on me the promise of America, which made my life and my choices possible.
母亲、奶奶、外婆跟我生活在截然不同的时代；父亲、爷爷、外公对于我的生活也无法想像。不过他们向我灌输美国式希望，这个希望造就了我的人生与选择。
My story began in the years following World War II, when men like my father who had served their country returned home to settle down, make a living and raise a family. It was the beginning of the Baby Boom, an optimistic time. The United States had saved the world from fascism, and now our nation was working to unite former adversaries in the aftermath of war, reaching out to allies and to former enemies, securing the peace and helping to rebuild a devastated Europe and Japan.
我的故事始于第二次世界大战后。当时父亲和其他男人一样，为国效力后返乡担起养家糊口之责。婴儿潮随之出现，那是一个乐观主义的时代。美国将全世界从法西斯主义中拯救出来，在战后又努力和以前的敌对国家修好，团结盟友与先前的敌人，致力于和平，协助受到战火摧残的欧洲与日本重建。
Although the Cold War was beginning with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, my parents and their generation felt secure and hopeful. American supremacy was the result not just of military might, but of our values and of the abundant opportunities available to people like my parents who worked hard and took responsibility.
虽然美国和苏联、东欧展开冷战，不过我父母和他们那一代人不觉得有什么危险，依旧充满希望。美国的超强地位靠的不仅仅是武力，还有我们的价值观念和遍地的机会。只要努力工作并承担责任，像我父母一样的人谁都可以得到这些机会。