Dorothy Rodham and her husband, Hugh, moved to Little Rock, Ark., in 1987 to help Mrs. Clinton take care of Chelsea when she was working full time as a lawyer at Rose Law Firm. After Mr. Rodham died in 1993, Mrs. Rodham spent more time at the White House, accompanying the first lady and Chelsea on trips to India, China, Paris and Hawaii. She avoided the spotlight but enjoyed her time in Washington, with movie nights, trips to the zoo and margaritas at the Cactus Cantina.

At the 1996 convention, Mrs. Rodham vouched for her son-in-law, saying in a brief video, “Everybody knows there is only one person in the world who can really tell the truth about a man, and that’s his mother-in-law.”

But she also berated Mr. Clinton in the midst of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and encouraged Mrs. Clinton to forge her own political career, said several people who worked in the White House at the time.

After Mrs. Clinton was elected to the Senate from New York in 2000, Mrs. Rodham moved to Washington to be closer to her daughter. At one point, mother and daughter shared a two-bedroom apartment while the Clintons’ townhouse in Northwest Washington was being renovated to make a larger, private space to accommodate Mrs. Rodham. “Hillary would get home after a long day in the Senate and they’d just sit there and talk about their days,” said Patti Solis Doyle, who worked for Mrs. Clinton from 1991 until 2008 and was campaign manager for much of her first presidential run.

Image Mrs. Rodham in the 1940s. Credit... via Hillary Clinton campaign

When she was secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton would return from a trip and plop down on the couch with her mom to hear about the latest twist in “Dancing With the Stars,” her mother’s favorite television show.