Obama praises Clinton in joint interview

President Barack Obama said in an interview shown Friday night that Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic nomination five years ago, “will go down as one of the finest secretary of states we’ve had” and added that he would “miss her” once she steps down in the coming days.

In a joint interview with Clinton that he initiated, Obama piled on the praise, leading some observers to wonder if he were effectivelyblessing her presumed bid to succeed him in 2016 even as Vice President Joe Biden has been positioning himself for a possible run.

“I just wanted to have a chance to publicly say thank you because I think Hillary will go down as one of the finest secretary of states we’ve had,” Obama told Steve Kroft of CBS News with Clinton sitting beside him. “It has been a great collaboration over the last four years. I’m going to miss her. Wish she was sticking around. But she has logged in so many miles, I can’t begrudge her taking it easy for a little bit.”

Excerpts of the interview were shown Friday on the CBS Evening News. A fuller version will air today on 60 Minutes.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 01/27/2013

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