In the 1990s and early 2000s, Hillary Clinton touted the success of Bill Clinton's 1996 overhaul of the country's welfare system, framed as the transition from "dependency to dignity" — a subject she hasn't spoken much about this year during her campaign.

Bill Clinton's overhaul of the welfare system, which was passed in conjunction with a Republican-controlled Congress, replaced a major federal welfare program with block grants to states, required adults to find a job within two years of receiving aid, placed a five-year limit on aid, blocked future legal immigrants from welfare assistance, and cut $24 billion in food stamps. It was denounced by many Democrats, including Peter Edelman, who resigned from his post at the Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that the law would do "serious injury to American children."