The truth of the matter is, neither Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton knew Florence Steen.

But when Hillary Clinton was in the midst of hanging on for dear life at the end of the Democratic primary season, she invoked her name as if she had known her for quite some time.

Nobody was complaining. Clinton shared the remarkable story about a woman who was literally on her death bed at a Rapid City hospice who had her daughter get her an absentee so she could finally vote for a woman in a presidential election.

It warmed the hearts of women (and many men) nationwide.

Clinton shared the story again when she conceded the primary elections to her opponent, Barack Obama.

What Clinton did isn't new, especially in modern day politics. What is interesting is the role that political outsiders - i.e., those who have no real political aspirations or meaningful role in elections or to office holders - have shaped the general public's view of the candidate.

Here's a few that have shaped elections and those who have sought the presidency in a wide array of ways over the years.

Joe the Plumber

The meeting between Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Toledo plumber Joe Wurzelbacher set of a minor storm of interest, especially among conservative radio show hosts that latched on to Obama's answer to the Ohio plumber's question about taxes. When Obama talked about "spreading the wealth" around to help those behind Joe, they pounced.

So did Obama's opponent, John McCain, who brought up Joe the Plumber's name about two dozen times in the third and final debate between the two candidates.

He was an instant celebrity. However, the sudden fame wasn't all it was cracked up to be as it turned out Joe the Plumber didn't have a plumber's license. Not only that, but he owed more than $1,000 in taxes.

but bloggers and news organizations challenged his assumption that Obama's tax plan would end up costing him business opportunities, as he doesn't pull in more than a quarter million dollars annually.

Still, it isn't like he has been totally shying away from the media attention. Numerous talk show appearances and TV news interviews have been on his schedule of late, and it has even spawned a line of novelty T-shirts that read, ""Vote Joe the Plumber '08," with the tag: "No More Drips in the White House."

Willie Horton

It isn't unusual that unethical and illegal activity have been attached to modern day politics. But usually, when it helps decide a campaign, the illegal activity is performed by someone in the campaign.

One of the most renowned attack ads of modern day politics involved the weekend furlough of a prisoner that went on a crime spree.

The name Willie Horton will live in infamy in political circles. Produced by a third party backing Vice President George H.W. Bush's efforts to fill predecessor Ronald Reagan in the White House, the ad painted a grim portrait not only of Willie Horton, it essentially doomed the Michael Dukakis campaign.

It was Dukakis who granted him the furlough upon which Horton, already a convicted murderer, assaulted a couple. Now, it's almost certain Bush didn't know who Horton was, but Dukakis very well didn't before the assault, either.

Checkers

OK, so Checkers may have been considered part of Richard Nixon's family, but the first national political address on television as a direct plea to the people was sheer genius on the part of the less than lovable 'Tricky Dick.'

Under scrutiny for alleged kickbacks and/or illegal contributions, Nixon - then vice president - went on television to make his case. In the address, he accounted for the campaign contributions and was able to discard much of the suspicion that he had misused funds. He went as far to say that his wife, Pat, didn't have a mink coat but instead a "respectable Republican" cloth coat.

But the speech is best known for his admitting that he did take one contribution, a Cocker Spaniel that the family named "Checkers." The story of a dog and his master warmed the hearts of enough people that President Dwight Eisenhower, which wasn't that fond of Nixon anyway, decided not to ditch him and kept him on as vice president even through his re-election campaign several years later.

And while the Checkers story had legs, it failed to carry to him victory against John F. Kennedy in 1960. Still, never had something so apolitical as a dog help save such a storied political career as Nixon's.

Marilyn Monroe

And speaking of JFK …

At the time, it was unimaginable to most of the public that the handsome John F. Kennedy would ever stray from the beautiful Jackie Kennedy. Of course, in hind sight, we would be wrong.

The thing about his (and his brother's tryst) with Marilyn Monroe is that, when one looks back, it seems obvious. Of course, with written records and accounts by relatives such as Peter Lawford and his wife, Pat, it seems like it was obvious.

I don't know. I wasn't there. Of course, looking at this video of the blonde bombshell Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to the president certainly makes it seem all the more viable.

What's unique about the apolitical Monroe and her role in history is that it paints a much different picture of both Jack and Bobby Kennedy long after all three have died. While it didn't affect their political aspirations at the time, it certainly changed the way history looks at the powerful brother duo and their affair with the starlet of the century.

Mary Halpin

You're forgiven if you've never heard of the name.

Halpin, too, became famous for an affair with a president. Of course, Halpin wasn't a starlet, and the president in question, Grover Cleveland, wasn't president when the tryst occurred.

But it did have a significant political impact on Cleveland's presidential run.

It turns out that in 1873, she claimed that Cleveland was the father of a baby that she was yet to have. At the time, Cleveland, a bachelor, was an attorney.

Admitting that he had relations with that woman, there was no definitive way to determine whether the boy - which was born in September of 1874 - was his. It seems that Halpin had a bit of a reputation to being friendly with several men in the greater Buffalo area.

Regardless, Cleveland acknowledged the boy and provided for his support.

When Republicans brought the issue up in Cleveland's initial run for office with the slogan "Ma Ma, Where's my Pa?", Cleveland owned up to the child and didn't try to hide it.

Shockingly (at least by today's standards), not only did he tell the truth, but he was rewarded by defeating oponent James G. Blaine. That gave Cleveland supporters their retort for the Republican battle cry. The Dems answered "Gone to the White House, Ha Ha Ha!"