Bill Clinton served as the 42nd president of the United States (1993–2001) and as the 40th and 42nd governor of Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton first ran for a public office in 1974, competing in the congressional election for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district. After narrowly losing to incumbent representative John Paul Hammerschmidt, he ran for the office of Arkansas Attorney General in 1976. He won the Democratic primary comfortably, receiving over 55% of the popular vote. Witnessing his strong support during the primaries, Republicans did not nominate a candidate to run against him. Clinton won the general election unopposed. His experience as the attorney general was considered a natural "stepping-stone" to the governorship.

Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, served as the 67th United States Secretary of State (2009–2013), United States Senator from New York (2001–2009), and First Lady of the United States (1993–2001). She was also a candidate in the 2008 and 2016 Democratic presidential primaries. In 2016, Clinton was her party's presidential candidate but lost the election to her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.