Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Sunday said if elected as the US President next year, she would still select bone china and flowers for state dinners but would depend on her husband and former president Bill Clinton on key policy issues including economy.
Ms. Clinton, the former First Lady and former Secretary of State, is aiming to create history in November, 2016 by becoming the first woman to win a presidential election. If elected, she would be sworn in as the first-ever woman president of the United States on January 20, 2017.
That would bring in Bill Clinton to the White House in a unique unprecedented role in a presidential administration.
Participating in a Democratic presidential debate, Ms. Clinton was responding to questions on what role his husband would play or have when she is inside the White House.
“With respect to my own husband, I am probably still going to pick the flowers and the china for state dinners and stuff like that,” she said in response to a question.
“But I will certainly turn to him as prior presidents have for special missions, for advice, and in particular, how we’re going to get the economy working again for everybody, which he knows a little bit about,” Ms. Clinton said.
Ms. Clinton, 68, was in one of her finest moments when asked: “Should corporate America love Hillary Clinton?”
“Everybody should,” Ms. Clinton responded immediately as the large audience watching the debate burst into laughter.
“I have said I want to be the president for the struggling, the striving and the successful. I want to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share, which they have not been doing. I want the Buffett Rule to be in effect, where millionaires have to pay 30 per cent tax rates instead of 10 per cent to nothing in some cases. I want to make sure we rein in the excessive use of political power to feather the nest and support the super wealthy,” she said.
To the same question, her Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders said that corporate America would not love him.
“No, I think they won’t,” he said. “So Hillary and I have a difference. The CEOs of large multinationals may like Hillary. They ain’t going to like me and Wall Street is going to like me even less. The reason for that is we’ve got to deal with the elephant in the room, which is the greed, recklessness and illegal behaviour on Wall Street,” he said.
Responding to a question on the First Lady, Ms. Clinton said the role has been defined by each person who has held it.
“I am very grateful for all my predecessors and my successors because each of them not only did what she could to support her husband and our country but often chose to work on important issues that were of particular concern.”
“Obviously, Mrs. Obama has been a terrific leader when it comes to young people’s health, particularly nutrition and exercise. I think it has had a big impact. So whoever is part of the family of a president has an extraordinary privilege of not only having a front row seat on history but making her or maybe his contribution,” Ms. Clinton added.
