Bill Clinton joked with David Letterman on Tuesday night that he'd be open to returning to his former address at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — "If I'm asked,"
according to Politico.
Making an appearance on CBS' "Late Show" as the long-serving TV host Letterman is preparing to retire, Clinton said he was ready to do the bidding of the next president. And, hopefully, that will be his wife, he said.
"Well, first of all, Hillary has to win the nomination. If she wins the nomination, then she has to win the election. If she wins the election, the chances are 100 percent I’ll move back," the former president told Letterman, quickly adding, "If — wait, wait — if I’m asked."
Letterman deadpanned: "You may not be invited back."
But Clinton said he would stand on ceremony and decorum, noting most people honor the request of a sitting president.
"My experience is that since I left the White House, when a president of either party asks, you say, yes," Clinton, who served two terms as president, said. "So I hope I’ll be invited. It’d be a good thing for America if she won. I hope she does."
Meanwhile, at least one political observer thinks former first daughter Chelsea Clinton could step into the traditional role of a first lady if her mother is elected.
"There is a social function to the first lady's role, and that will not go away," C-SPAN co-CEO Susan Swain told
the Daily Mail. "Diplomacy is conducted through social settings, and it is important to have somebody in that role."
Swain, who has authored a book on American first ladies, said that, historically, other daughters of presidents have stepped up to fill the first lady duties.
"The best guesstimate with the Clintons is that Chelsea Clinton would take over that role," Swain said.
Bill Clinton is seen by some as a political lightning rod, and Hillary's campaign will likely struggle with how to use the charismatic but potentially damaging former president during her second White House run,
The Washington Post reported.
Others have noted the softer buffer — but large role — that Chelsea Clinton is likely to play on the campaign trail, talking about her mother's accomplishments without the political baggage of her father.
While she has previously worked hard behind the scenes, including at the family's foundation, that will change and fast,
Time magazine said.
It said: "As Hillary Clinton launches the largest Democratic presidential campaign in American history, her daughter will be close by. Democrats say that Chelsea will give a big boost to the campaign, making her mother seem more approachable and adding a valuable surrogate spokeswoman."
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