NORTH CAROLINA (Reuters, The Washington Post) - Hillary Clinton, who is set to become the first woman to serve as a Presidential nominee for a major American party, said: "I know, that it takes a little getting used to, even for me," in an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday (July 25).

"As some of you might know, I have been the recipient of numerous political attacks for a very long time, I have learned to live with that, I have as Eleanor Roosevelt advised many years ago, 'If a woman wants to be in the public arena you'd better develop skin as thick as the hide of a rhinoceros,'" she said.

During her address - which came as Democrats were convening in Philadelphia for the Democratic convention - Mrs Clinton never mentioned Republican nominee Donald Trump by name.

But she took repeated jabs at him, referring to controversial statements he has made about military and national security issues. Mrs Clinton, for example, stressed the importance of "standing with our allies, because they are part of what makes us exceptional."

Mr Trump alarmed many in the country's foreign policy establishment when he was quoted last week in a New York Times story that as commander-in-chief he would not automatically come to the defense of America's NATO allies if they were attacked.

Mrs Clinton also plans Monday to talk to campaign volunteers in Charlotte at an event where aides say she will highlight an ongoing nationwide voter registration effort.