Hillary Clinton leads tributes to Gloria Steinem: ‘Her activism was rooted in optimism’

Ex-secretary of state joins Nancy Pelosi, Jill Biden, Roxane Gay and others in heralding groundbreaking feminist

• Gloria Steinem, groundbreaking feminist campaigner, dies aged 92

• We badly need to raise our boys more like our girls': Gloria Steinem - a life in quotes

Leading figures from politics, entertainment and wider society led glowing tributes to Gloria Steinem on Thursday, with Hillary Clinton hailing the American feminist icon who died at 92 at home in New York as one of the architects of the entire structure of women's equality".

Clinton, a former US secretary of state, presidential candidate and first lady, was among the first to jump in with praise early on Thursday when she appeared on the CBS Mornings TV show to share her respect and gratitude for Steinem.