The SNL Archaeology of Hillary Clinton

Satirical impressions are designed to distill a public figure's most salient characteristics into a memorable and hilarious whole. It follows that Saturday Night Live's impressions of Hillary Clinton over the years can reveal, through a kind of television archaeology, the evolution of her character—and the ripening of her presidential ambitions—from her first, eager days as non-cookie-baking co-presidential first lady to the richly complex prospective candidate we see today.

One of the earliest Clinton sketches features Jan Hooks' interpretation of Hillary as an eager "co-president." It aired in May of 1993, early into Bill Clinton's administration. Hillary tells her husband about her big plans for his health care bill and gets into a fistfight with Bob Dole. A few months before the sketch aired, Clinton appeared on a public service announcement, earnestly explaining the need for health care reform. Hook's Hillary is embryonic. The ambition is visible, but it's accompanied by a scrappy enthusiasm that later is submerged, though not exactly mellowed.