A March 5 New York Times article by reporters Patrick Healy and Jeff Zeleny on Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama's (D-IL) participation in a commemorative civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, suggested that Clinton's description in her speech of having seen Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Chicago when she was a teenager is contradicted by her autobiography, in which Clinton “described [herself] growing up Republican and being a 'Goldwater Girl.' ” In fact, in her autobiography, Living History (Simon & Schuster, 2003), Clinton related both that she was “an active Young Republican and, later, a Goldwater girl,” and that she attended a speech by King that she said had an effect on some of her political views.

From Healy and Zeleny's Times article:

Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, recalled going with her church youth minister as a teenager in 1963 to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Chicago. Yet, in her autobiography and elsewhere, Mrs. Clinton has described growing up Republican and being a “Goldwater Girl” in 1964 -- in other words, a supporter of the presidential candidacy of Senator Barry M. Goldwater, who opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

However, in her autobiography, Clinton also described going with a Methodist youth minister, Don Jones, to see King speak in Chicago, as well as her reaction to the speech. From Living History (Pages 22-23):

My quest to reconcile my father's insistence on self-reliance and my mother's concerns about social justice was helped along by the arrival in 1961 of a Methodist youth minister named Donald Jones.

[...]

Rev. Jones stressed that a Christian life was “faith in action.” I had never met anyone like him. Don called his Sunday and Thursday night Methodist Youth Fellowship sessions “the University of Life.” He was eager to work with us because he hoped we would become more aware of life outside Park Ridge [IL]. He sure met his goals with me. ... We visited black and Hispanic churches in Chicago's inner city for exchanges with their youth groups.

In the discussions we had sitting around church basements, I learned that, despite the obvious differences in our environments, these kids were more like me than I ever could have imagined. They also knew more about what was happening in the civil rights movement in the South. I had only vaguely heard of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, but these discussions sparked my interest.

So, when Don announced one week that he would take us to hear Dr. King speak at Orchestra Hall, I was excited. My parents gave me permission, but some of my friends' parents refused to let them go hear such a “rabble-rouser.”

Dr. King's speech was entitled, “Remaining Awake Through a Revolution.” Until then, I had been dimly aware of the social revolution occurring in our country, but Dr. King's words illuminated the struggle taking place and challenged our indifference: “We now stand on the border of the Promised Land of integration. The old order is passing away and a new one is coming in. We should all accept this order and learn to live together as brothers in a world society, or we shall perish together.”

Though my eyes were opening, I still mostly parroted the conventional wisdom of Park Ridge's and my father's politics. While Don Jones threw me into “liberalizing” experiences, Paul Carlson [Clinton's ninth-grade history teacher and “a very conservative Republican”] introduced me to refugees from the Soviet Union who told haunting tales of cruelty under the Communists, which reinforced my already strong anti-Communist views. Don once remarked that he and Mr. Carlson were locked in a battled for my mind and soul. Their conflict was broader than that, however, and came to a head in our church, where Paul was also a member. Paul disagreed with Don's priorities, including the University of Life curriculum, and pushed for Don's removal from the church. After numerous confrontations, Don decided to leave First Methodist after only two years for a teaching position at Drew University, where he recently retired as Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics.

In the same chapter, Clinton had earlier related how her history teacher, Paul Carlson, encouraged her to learn about Goldwater. Clinton highlighted what she admired about Goldwater, both as a teenager and “years later.” From Living History (Page 21):

My ninth-grade history teacher, Paul Carlson, was, and still is, a dedicated educator and very conservative Republican. Mr. Carlson encouraged me to read Senator Barry Goldwater's recently published book, The Conscience of a Conservative. That inspired me to write my term paper on the American conservative movement, which I dedicated “To my parents, who have always taught me to be an individual.” I liked Senator Goldwater because he was a rugged individualist who swam against the political tide. Years later, I admired his outspoken support of individual rights, which he considered consistent with his old-fashioned conservative principles: “Don't raise hell about the gays, the blacks and the Mexicans. Free people have a right to do as they damn well please.”

Clinton concluded that she did not see the “beliefs” of Jones and Carlson “as diametrically opposed then or now.” From Living History (Page 23):

I now see the conflict between Don Jones and Paul Carlson as an early indication of the cultural, political, and religious fault lines that developed across America in the last forty years. I liked them both personally and did not see their beliefs as diametrically opposed then or now.