Hillary Clinton was walking with her husband Bill in a nature preserve near their home in New York when the cellphone in his pocket started ringing.

It was five or six days after the November election that Barack Obama won after defeating her for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Instead of turning the phone off while strolling through nature, Clinton’s husband, the former president, answered it.

(Probably a good thing in hindsight. What would have happened if he hadn’t brought the phone? What if he had decided not to answer it? Who would have been Secretary of State then?)

OK, OK, it probably would not have made a difference (but who knows?)

It was the newly elected Obama calling to discuss some potential candidates for his administration. And then he popped the question, and asked Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State.

Clinton says in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that she initially demurred saying others were qualified for that position, and then answered yes.

“I finally began thinking, look, if I had won and I called him, I would have wanted him to say yes. And, you know, I’m pretty old-fashioned, and it’s just who I am. So at the end of the day, when your president asks you to serve, you say yes, if you can.”

And if tables were turned, and she were president, would she have called Obama? “Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, of course.”

But she is not running for president again. “I have absolutely no interest in running for president again. None. None. I mean, I know that’s hard for some people to believe, but … I just don’t.”

Here’s the ABC News interview

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo credit: Reuters/pool (Clinton during meeting with Russian president)

While members of the U.S. Congress angrily debated bogged-down efforts at healthcare reform, three one-time adversaries shared old stories, pats on the back and laughs.

Former Democratic President Bill Clinton, ex-Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senate Republican Leader Trent got together this week for the unveiling of Lott’s official Senate portrait.

“I’m still wondering why I’m here,” Clinton said, drawing chuckles and applause from a packed crowd on Capitol Hill of a few hundred people, including past and present congressional power brokers.

Indeed, it was a strange scene.

Clinton, Lott and Gingrich often engaged in front-page political battles during the former president’s eight years in the White House that ended in January 2001.

Most notably, Gingrich and Lott helped lead the failed bid in late 1998 and early 1999 to oust Clinton from office for lying about an affair with a White House intern.

None of them, in their remarks, made any mention of the scandal that rocked the nation and that tied up Congress for months.

Neither did they go near the flap that caused Lott to step down as Senate majority leader after making what was seen as a racially insensitive remark in 2002, ending more than five years a t the helm of the Senate.

Instead, they focused on the good times, kidded about some tough times and talked about productive times.

They noted that together they balanced the budget for the first time in 30 years and passed major legislation, including measures to overhaul welfare, dramatically boost education spending and create the federal health insurance program for children.

Lott revealed a key to their ability to find common ground.

“We never lost our ability to talk, even when I said something stupid — or vice versa,” Lott said.

Along the way, they developed a friendship.

“The world be amazed to know what good chemistry Trent and Newt and I had in private,” Clinton said.

Gingrich said the three were similar in their rise to power.

“We came out of nowhere, we had no plausible reason to get here, we got here and were slightly confused by the experience … and couldn’t believe the other two were here,” Gingrich said.

Lott acknowledged hanging on his office walls cartoons ridiculing Clinton. He said Clinton, after seeing them, laughed and gave him another cartoon — this one of Clinton skillfully fending off Republican opposition. Clinton framed and autographed it for the then Senate Republican leader.

Amid the laughter there was also some heartfelt talk.

Clinton told Lott, said: “When it is all said and done, all that matters is whether people are better off than when you started.”

“On that score, my friend, you did pretty well,” Clinton said.

Lott had a message for Congress, which has becoming increasingly partisan in recent years.

“If three good ole boys from the South, like the ones you heard today, can find a way to get it done …. I know that the outstanding leaders that we have in Congress … can get it done.”

Lott added,  “I will be praying for you.”

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: Reuters/Hyungwon Kang (Clinton, Lott pose in front of portrait of Lott.)

So we hear that current President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton are going to do lunch today.

It will follow Obama’s big financial regulation speech being delivered to Wall Street on the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse.

Wondering how much appetite they’re going to have after a speech on financial collapse and during an almost inevitable discussion about healthcare reform — the issue that turned into this past summer’s discontent.

We don’t know what’s on the menu for the presidential meal, but they have in the past both shown a keen appreciation for burgers.

There must be a good burger joint in the area — although we’re guessing since it’s Wall Street, it’s probably Kobe beef and that’s probably not in the budget, what with the deficit and all…

THIS JUST IN: The presidents are lunching at Il Mulino, the fare on the menu looks a tad more culinary-involved than burgers…

UPDATE: Lunch is over, no burgers were had, the presidents opted for fish…

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Obama receives his order at Ray’s Hell Burger in Virginia). Reuters/Dylan Martinez (Clinton eats chip at pub in England)

President Barack Obama heads for Capitol Hill tomorrow to address a joint session of Congress on one of the most pressing issues of the day, healthcare reform. For those with middling-to-long memories of Washington, this may have a familiar ring. Another Democratic president argued for healthcare reform on another September day some 16 years ago, and somehow healthcare remains unreformed.

Back then, it was President Bill Clinton, who spoke to Congress on September 22, 1993. That speech was full of sounding phrases like “healthcare that can never be taken away” and “security, simplicity and savings.” It also paid tribute to contributions from then-first lady and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose efforts to change U.S. healthcare went down to defeat.

Obama tried out some sounding phrases of his own on Labor Day in Cincinnati, calling on Congress to pass healthcare legislation this year.

Those who question Obama’s plans to reform the American health insurance system have noted the earlier Clinton efforts to do the same thing — and the earlier failure. Fox News warned about “echoes” of the Clinton plan. Politico.com said “history does not seem to be on (Obama’s) side”, citing the Clinton speech and noting that the Clinton healthcare reform plan was dead a year later.

It’s a different time, a different economy, a different president. But will it be deja vu all over again when Obama gives his prime-time health care speech tomorrow? Let us know what you think.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credits: REUTERS/Larry Downing (Colette Carl listens to U.S. President Barack Obama speak at an AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, Ohio September 7, 2009)

REUTERS/Pool photo (President Bill Clinton in the House chamber before his State of the Union address, with House Speaker Newt Gingrich in background, February 4, 1997)

President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the White House around 11 a.m. in the long-running quest for Middle East peace that has bedeviled American presidents for decades.

Mubarak is already out with his talking points, saying in media interviews that Arab states would recognize and normalize ties with Israel only after an overall Middle East peace deal is achieved, and not before.

Obama then turns to Clinton vs. Clinton. He meets Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at 1:30 p.m. about her Africa trip, and then moves on to a meeting with Bill Clinton, the former president and current husband to the secretary of state, about his trip to North Korea.

The Obama-Clinton meeting on Africa is in the Oval Office, while the Obama-Clinton meeting on North Korea is in the Situation Room — it may be a draw in signaling which one is more important.

And speaking of searching for peace, Jenny Sanford (wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford who told the world about his longing for his Argentine mistress) talks to Vogue about dealing with the after-effects of the affair.

“I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pronography. They just can’t break away from them,” Jenny Sanford says.

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer (fan at music festival on 40th anniversary of Woodstock)

Hillary Clinton may be Secretary of State, but her husband Bill still wins the popularity contest.

The former president grabbed the headlines recently on what could be considered her diplomatic turf by going to North Korea and securing the release of two American reporters.

And then he was off to Las Vegas to celebrate his upcoming 63rd birthday with pals at a steak house where an 8 ounce goes for $240 — and that’s without a baked potato or veggies — according to the New York Times.

So when Hillary Clinton snapped quite undiplomatically at an African student over what was translated (wrongly) as an inquiry about her husband’s views, it raised the question about why was she so irritated at the mention of Bill?

Was it his spotlight-grabbing derring-do in North Korea? Or the Vegas bash with his buddies? Or something else entirely?

But even though she’s in public office, and he’s not, a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows that Clinton, the former president, is more popular than Clinton, the current Secretary of State, by 58 percent to 53 percent.

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Clintons at inaugural service for Obama)

Some days, you really have to feel for Hillary Clinton. And this could be one of those days.

Secretary of State Clinton’s bad day started Monday in Kinshasa, in the middle of a grueling African trip, when a translator goofed and made it sound as if a questioner wanted to know what Clinton’s husband Bill thought of a particular issue. While on this tour, she’d already had to comment on the former president’s humanitarian mission to free to U.S. journalists from North Korea, and basically, she’d had about enough.

Read a just-the-facts Reuters story on what happened here and watch the video below.

But because the Clintons are the Clintons, with a long history in the public eye, that was hardly the end of it. Tuesday morning television — CNN, ABC, NBC, others — replayed the video of Hillary Clinton snapping at the student questioner: “You want me to tell you what my husband thinks? If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion, I am not going to be channeling my husband.” It was a five-star video on YouTube.

Back at the State Department, Assistant Secretary P.J. Crowley acknowledged that the question, however poorly it was translated — the questioner wanted to know what President Barack Obama thought, not former President Clinton — struck a nerve. Crowley told CNN that her reaction had to be taken in the context of her African trip, where she has worked to draw attention to the plight of women who are victims of rape as a weapon of war in Congo.

“If Africa, if Congo is going to advance, women have to play a more significant role. She was in the setting of a town hall, and the questioner was interested in what two men thought, not the secretary of state,” Crowley said.

No question about it, Hillary Clinton is a polarizing figure. But whatever you think, being secretary of state is challenging enough, especially on an exhausting trip to a continent with critical diplomatic issues, without being second-guessed about how she feels when asked questions involving her high-profile husband or the man she ran against who is now president.

Or is she fair game, no matter what the circumstances?

In domestic U.S. politics, Obama heads for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for a town hall meeting on health care. Fireworks possible.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Joe Bavier (Hillary Clinton in Kinshasa, August 10, 2009)

WASHINGTON - Republican Senator John McCain says North Korea was attempting to use former President Bill Clinton’s visit for propaganda purposes and enhance the prestige of Pyongyang.

In an interview with Reuters, McCain said the Obama administration should resist any temptation to engage in direct talks with the North Koreans but instead should push North Korea to rejoin stalled six-party negotiations over its nuclear program.

The six-party talks include the United States and North and South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

McCain, the Republican candidate in last year’s presidential election won by Barack Obama, said he believes all Americans appreciate Clinton’s role in securing the release of two American journalists and sparing them from “the worst gulag in the world, with conditions that would make Stalin blush.”

“The question is, will this signal a change in North Korean behavior?” McCain said, recalling that a visit by former President Jimmy Carter to North Korean in 1994 led to hopes for a change but did not produce lasting progress.

In announcing the release of the two women, the North Korean news agency had said Clinton offered an apology for their behavior, a claim denied by the Obama White House. “I think it’s very clear that the North Koreans, in their statement when they talked about ‘profound apologies’ etcetera, tried to use this to enhance their prestige and use it for propaganda purposes, but that should surprise no one,” he said.

North Korea’s insistence that Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il discussed pending U.S.-North Korean issues and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them was seen by some analysts as a signal that North Korea was seeking direct talks with the United States.

Since taking office in January, the Obama administration so far has repeated the same demands long held by the United States, that North Korea needs to give up its nuclear weapons and stop provocative behavior.

McCain, long a vocal critic of North Korea, said direct talks should be resisted. “Let’s not change our policy of many administrations, of our goal of eliminating North Korea’s nuclear weapons, engage in six-party talks and continue our advocacy for human rights,” he said.

Photo credits: Euna Lee reunited with family - REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Clinton speaks with film producer Stephen Bing - REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

It turns out that it was North Korea which had suggested that former President Bill Clinton would be the best person to come and negotiate the release of two journalists who had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in the Stalinist state.
 
The U.S. government — particularly Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — had been working for months on trying to free the two journalists. The secretary of state reportedly proposed sending various people to Pyongyang, including Clinton’s former vice president Al Gore, to lobby for the women’s release.
 
But North Korea rejected Gore and other possible envoys like Senator John Kerry, Governor Bill Richardson and former ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg. Pyongyang wanted President Clinton and passed that word along through the two detained journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were making occasional phone calls to their families.
 
“In mid-July during one such phone call, Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee shared what the North Koreans had told them — that they would be willing to grant them amnesty and release the two Americans if an envoy in the person of President Clinton would agree to come to Pyongyang and seek their release,” a senior administration official said.

The families passed the request along to Gore, who co-founded the media group that employs the women. Gore then asked the Obama administration if the former president could make the trip.

Once the administration determined that North Korea would indeed release Ling and Lee if Clinton made the trip, the former president agreed to travel to Pyongyang on a “private, humanitarian mission.”

Before leaving for North Korea, Clinton was briefed by Obama national security officials and he also spoke with Gore and the families of the two women. 
 
Once in Pyongyang, where he was greeted with the fanfare of a state visit as opposed to a private humanitarian trip, Clinton secured the women’s release after about three hours and 15 minutes in meetings and over dinner with President Kim Jong-il. 

The U.S. government says it didn’t offer any quid pro quo. But it remains to be  seen what, if anything, Clinton proposed in exchange for the  women’s release.

The North Korean news agency called the Clinton-Kim talks “exhaustive” but maybe they were also exhausting? Especially if the North Korean supreme leader is as sick as reported. 

And in the end, who has enjoyed more coming in from the cold and being in the global spotlight? Kim Jong-il or Bill Clinton?

For more Reuters political news, please click here. 

Photo credits: Reuters/KCNA (Clinton sits with Kim in Pyongyang) ; Reuters/Danny Moloshok (Laura Ling (top) and Euna Lee disembark from plane in United States)

For months, Bill Clinton has stayed out of the diplomatic spotlight in deference to his wife.

But the former U.S. president has dominated the news since he turned up in North Korea seeking the release of two American journalists, while Hillary Clinton headed to Africa for her first major trip there as the top U.S. diplomat.

Secretary of State Clinton stayed out of sight from reporters traveling with her on the 15-hour flight to Kenya. Her staff said she would not comment on her husband’s mission to Pyongyang, which the White House billed as private.

“While the mission is in progress, we will have no comment. Our interest here is the successful completion of the mission and the safe return of the journalists,” said a senior U.S. official traveling with her.

There has been talk in the State Department for weeks over who to send to North Korea to see leader Kim Jong-il and try to free the reporters.

Most bets were on the other Bill — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — or Clinton’s vice president Al Gore. The reporters — Euna Lee and Laura Ling — worked for Gore’s California-based media outlet Current TV. 

Reuters photo by Thomas Mukoya ( Hillary Clinton greeted by Kenya’s foreign minister in Nairobi on Aug. 4)