Hillary Clinton Makes Surprise Appearance at Glamour Women of the Year Awards

The former Democratic presidential candidate received a standing ovation at the magazine's annual event.

The 2018 Glamour Women of the Year Awards honored a number of deserving female trailblazers, including Senator Kamala Harris, Viola Davis, Chrissy Teigen and the women activists of March for Our Lives, among others.

And while the star-studded crowd — which included the likes of Ashley Graham, Lili Reinhart, Mj Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Karlie Kloss and host Aidy Bryant — was visibly thrilled to celebrate the magazine's honorees, the sixth floor of New York's Spring Studios erupted in ear-deafening applause when Glamour's editor in chief, Samantha Barry, unexpectedly called Hillary Clinton to the stage on Monday night.

The former Democratic presidential candidate's surprise appearance was met with a standing ovation. After thanking the crowd for their warm response, Clinton — who was honored at the annual event in 2008 — spoke about female empowerment and the unprecedented number of women who were victorious in last week's midterm elections.

"Congratulations to all of the Glamour Women of the Year being honored tonight. Don't they inspire us and give us hope for our future?" she began, before recalling her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 election. "And this week, exactly two years ago, was a very rough one."

Added Clinton: "But my personal disappointment wasn't so much about what happened. It was more about, how do we create opportunity for all of the people in America?"

The politician also reminded the audience that she encouraged little girls to "pursue their own dreams" and possibly run for office in her concession speech. "But I didn't realize how many women were listening as well," she said with a smile.

"And many of those women decided that they were going to get involved in politics, including running for public office," the What Happened author continued. "Now, maybe we didn't crack that highest, hardest ceiling, but we did charge straight through the wall and into the arena."

Clinton then noted the record number of women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Though polls in some states are still open, more than 100 women are projected to serve in the House, with the majority of them being Democrats.

"There is a lot of work to be done in our country and I think people got a burst of energy out of the victories from last week," Clinton said. "I'm going to be sure to continue to encourage a lot of you, and particularly young women [and] maybe not-so-young women — everyone who wants to see positive change — go ahead, get involved and maybe even run for office."

She concluded, "And may the best candidate win."

In addition to Sen. Harris, Davis, Teigen and the women activists of March for Our Lives, Glamour's 2018 Women of the Year included singer Janelle Monae, activist Manal al-Sharif, National Park Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin and the Sister Army, who blew the whistle on more than 20 years of abuse by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.