Bill Clinton Says He Has ‘No Idea’ If Hillary Will Run In 2016, Defends Obama

“She’s an extraordinarily able person,” said the ex-president. “I’ve never met anybody I thought was a better public servant. But I have no earthly idea what she’ll decide to do.” 

"I think we ought to give her a chance to organize her life, and decide what she wants to do. I just don't know,” he added.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, who turns 65 next month, currently serves as secretary of state to President Barack Obama, but says she plans to step down in 2013. According to Bill Clinton, she just needs a break.

“You know she’s worked hard for 20 years. We had eight years in the White House, then she ran for the Senate, she served in New York for eight years then she immediately became the secretary of state, and she’s tired,” Clinton told Schieffer. “She’s really worked hard. I think she’s done a fabulous job. I’m very proud of her. But she wants to take some time off, kind of regroup. Write a book. I hope we’ll be working together.”

As the New York Times blog pointed out, Clinton omitted from that list his wife’s time spent running against  Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

Clinton made a pitch for Obama’s re-election campaign on the program, telling viewers the president needs a second term to turn around the economy.

Clinton asserted, as he did in his Democratic Convention speech, that no president could have rendered a “fully healed” economy in one term, adding that “we've got to keep working at it.”

When asked by Schieffer where he thinks the race currently stands, Clinton said he think Obama is “winning.”

“But I think you can’t know because of the enormous financial advantage that Citizens United gave to these Republican Super PACs, and because of the work they have done and will do on Election Day to try and reduce the number of young people, first-generation immigrants and minorities voting,” he added.

When the discussion turned to whether Hillary Rodham Clinton was the most qualified person to run for president in 2016, Clinton said, “I’ve never met anybody I thought was any better than her at this. But again, we got a lot of able people in our party who want to be president.”

But whatever she decides, Clinton said he plans to support her. "Whatever she does, I'm for her first, last and always."