Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not seeking a second term
in her current role if President Barack Obama wins in November, The Associated Press reports.
The former first lady was all smiles at the president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, but she is not looking forward to another four years as Mr. Obama’s chief foreign affairs adviser. Ms. Clinton was appointed to the role by the president after losing the Democratic nomination to him in 2008.
Prior to serving as Secretary of State, Ms. Clinton was a U.S. Senator from New York for eight years, following her tenure as the first lady during her husband Bill Clinton’s two terms as president during the 1990s.
Now, the former first lady wants to find out how tired she really is.
“I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur,” said Ms. Clinton Thursday. “But I think after 20 years, and it will be 20 years, of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am.”
Her stint atop the political “high wire” featured the highly publicized affair between her husband and Monica Lewinsky in the late 1990s.
Recently, Ms. Clinton has been the subject of some of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s campaign rhetoric during his participation in the Republican primary race. Mr. Gingrich has repeatedly stated that he shot down “Hillarycare,” referring to a healthcare reform package that she lead the charge for along with her husband in 1993.
It is highly unlikely that Ms. Clinton has heard any of Mr. Gingrich’s comments about her though. The Secretary of State does become involved in partisan politics, and Ms. Clinton said Thursday that she has not been watching any of the Republican presidential debates.
“It is a little odd for me to be totally out of an election season. But, you know, I didn’t watch any of those debates,” said Ms. Clinton.
Although she will not seek a second term with the Department of State, Ms. Clinton declined to comment Thursday as to whether or not she would make another run for president in 2016.
