Brooklyn, New York (CNN) As Hillary Clinton delivered her victory speech Tuesday night marking a milestone for women, she looked to one woman in particular for inspiration: her late mother.

In remarks laden with the historical significance of her achievement as the first female presumptive presidential nominee of a major party, Clinton declared Tuesday night — exactly eight years after she conceded the Democratic primary to Barack Obama -- that what she had once come so agonizingly close to was now reality.

While she was surrounded by family and supporters, Clinton noted her mother's absence on one of the most important days of her political career. "I wish she could see her daughter become the Democratic nominee," Clinton said of Dorothy Rodham, who would have recently turned 97.

Photos: Female firsts in politics Photos: Female firsts in politics Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, claims her place in history on Tuesday, July 27, after becoming the Democratic Party's nominee for U.S. President. She would be the first woman in U.S. history to lead the ticket of a major political party. Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first woman to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was a leader of the suffragette movement along with Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony. She was also the editor of the feminist magazine "Revolution." Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Republican from Montana was the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. entry in both World War I and World War II. Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Feminist reformer Victoria Claflin Woodhull was the first woman to run for U.S. President from a nationally recognized ticket. She was the candidate of the Equal Rights Party in 1872. Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve as a member of the President's Cabinet. She was appointed labor secretary by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Shirley Chisholm, a Democrat from New York, was the first African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She was elected in 1968. Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to run on a major party's national ticket. She was Walter Mondale's running mate. Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida, was elected in 1989. She is the first Hispanic woman and Cuban-American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Carol Moseley Braun, a Democrat from Illinois, was the first African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate. She served from 1993 to 1999. Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Dee Dee Myers was the first woman to serve as White House press secretary. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton and held the position from January 1993 to December 1994. Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Madeleine Albright was the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state. She was appointed to the position by President Bill Clinton in 1997. Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, is the first openly gay woman to be elected to Congress. She was elected to the House in 1999 and to the Senate in 2012. Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, is the first woman to lead a party in Congress. Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009. Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: Female firsts in politics U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, is the first woman of color to serve in both chambers of Congress. Hirono was elected to the House in 2007 and to the Senate in 2012. Hide Caption 16 of 16

Clinton harnessed the memory of her mother to take a jab at presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Clinton said of her mother: "She taught me never to back down from a bully, which it turns out was pretty good advice."

Rodham was abandoned at 14 and never attended college. Clinton regularly told the story of Rodham and her struggles at the start of the 2016 campaign, but opted to leave her mother out of her stump speeches as the campaign dragged on.

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