Washington, Dec 1 : With Hillary Clinton almost certain to become President-elect Barack Obama's Secretary of State on Monday, former President Bill Clinton can capitalise on his wife's success by taking over her New York Senate seat.
William T. Cunningham, a New York communications executive and former top adviser to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said it would be fascinating to watch Bill Clinton heading the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and interviewing his wife on her actions as Secretary of State.
"A lot of people would be tuning in," FOX News quoted him, as saying.
The only former president to serve in Congress after leaving the White House was John Quincy Adams, who won a seat in the House of Representatives after losing his bid for a second presidential term to Andrew Jackson.
President William Howard Taft served on the Supreme Court after he lost his bid for a second term to Woodrow Wilson.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey returned to the Senate after losing his 1968 presidential bid to Richard Nixon.
Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, said Bill Clinton serving in the Senate would be "remarkable," and further signal the re-emergence of the coastal states in politics after the South reigned supreme for so long.
All the political analysts agreed that Bill Clinton would make for an effective senator but doubt he would be interested.
"I think at this point, it's hard to believe he would look for another executive political office. They just don't compare to the big one," said Robert Shapiro, a professor of political science at Columbia University.
Zelizer noted that being in the Senate is not the same as being in the White House.
"It would be hard for him to be in an institution where he's not the main guy," he said, explaining that as a junior senator, Clinton would have to work under Reid.
Zelizer hinted that Clinton might have fun going back to Congress to wreak havoc on lawmakers who voted to impeach him for the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the Paula Jones lawsuit.
But revenge fantasies aside, Clinton, who has only held executive positions in his political career, might have more interest in being governor of New York or mayor of New York City.
In the end, political analysts believe Bill Clinton will continue his philanthropic efforts around the world with his foundation.
--- ANI
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