Hillary Clinton ready for break from 'high wire'

Jan 27, 2012, 12:17 GMT

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that she's ready to leave the 'high wire' of public office.

Clinton, who has previously made clear she would not serve a second term under US President Barack Obama if he is re-elected in November, made her remarks at a town hall meeting at the state department.

Answering a question about her plans from the moderator, Clinton said she would stay on in the office until the president nominates someone and the transition can occur.

'But I think after 20 years ... of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would ... probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am,' she said. 'Everyone always says that when they leave these jobs.'

Clinton arrived on the nation's stage in 1992 as her husband, Bill Clinton, campaigned for the White House.

As first lady from 1993 to 2001, she was the centre of controversy over her role in a national debate about health care reform, and withstood the public censure over her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky and his subsequent impeachment by US Congress.

In 2000, she broke historic US tradition by running for the US Senate while she was still living in the White House. She won the seat in New York and served in the Senate until 2009.

After running a bruising campaign against Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, she was tapped by her erstwhile rival as Secretary of State.

She said she was 'looking forward to this year' and didn't want to look beyond, so as not to divert attention from her work.

'I will just work as hard as I can to the last minute,' she said.