An email scandal questioning Hillary’s charitable foundation was one of the early signs of the former First Lady’s loss.

The stunning loss of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to her Republican rival, Donald Trump, has many people wondering how it happened.

It seemed like the United States was ready for its first female leader, but many Americans did not care; they wanted a different kind of change.

Republican Donald Trump was brash, offensive and underestimated.

Yet, he had the backing of large swaths of the country, for whom he was a political outsider.

PROFILE: Hillary Clinton – The first Madam President?

In contrast, Clinton, a former secretary of state, represented something his supporters hated: the establishment.

From an email scandal to questions about her family’s charitable foundation, there were signs early on that, contrary to her campaign slogan, Americans were not ready for another Clinton presidency.

Scandals haunted her entire campaign, giving fuel to the idea that she was secretive and corrupt.

It also did not help that Wikileaks released tens of thousands of hacked emails from campaign staff, affirming many people’s suspicions about a potential cover-up.

In the final three weeks, with Clinton leading in most polls, the FBI dropped a bombshell.

They began to re-examine staff emails, believing they may have overlooked something.

“It killed her campaign in the sense that it reinforced all of the misgivings and uncertainties that people have had about the Clintons for years,” Lara Brown, an associate professor of political management at George Washington University, told Al Jazeera.

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Even those who supported her admitted it was a “tough decision”, while others, fed up with both candidates, opted to back a third party.

“Hillary Clinton wanted to break what she referred to as the glass ceiling for women in American politics,” said Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington DC. “They will have to wait at least another four years to do it.”