Interview with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - cont.

A: I think it has. At least I hope it has. It certainly feels that way when I travel. There is a great sigh of relief in some places that people believe that we will show mutual respect or expect mutual respect that we will listen and try to find common ground. Now we're not going to agree with everybody, that is obvious. We have our own perspective and experience and goals but we want to work in a constructive way. I'll give you an example from our hemisphere. There was recently an action in Honduras where part of the government has removed the president who had been elected and in the past, a lot of people just expect the US to side with the established and we didn't, we said this is unacceptable. We are working very hard to resolve this and it was a surprise to many people in the region. We've opened up talks with Cuba again, which has been on hold for a very long time. So around the world, we are trying to do what we think is actually smart power. Which means you have to work with people and you have to be conscious of what their expectations and goals are. I just came from India, you know India and the US have some disagreements on the best way to deal with climate change but in listening to Indian officials, there are many areas of agreement, so why will we just focus on the disagreements? Let's see how many areas of disagreement we can find and the try to tackle the disagreements. So I think many people around the world feel that we are following through on what the president and I said that we are going to have a different kind of diplomatic presence.

Q: There are reports in the American press that your role has not been outstanding, that you have been sidelined, overshadowed by the president, VP, National Security Adviser... is that true?

A: Well, I don't think so. No I don't think so. I think that we have a great team but it is funny to me having been in the White House with my husband when he was president. The President is the President... I try to be President but I was not successful. I know but the President is the President and I think... (did you try very hard to be President?) Oh yes I tried very hard to be president, yes indeed. But what the president does is to get a team that he believes complements what he's trying to achieve. and I was very surprised when President Obama asked me to be the secretary of state because we have competed very hard in the primary elections and he said look I really need you and I believe we can have a great relationship and we do. It's been a...everything that I could have hoped for... we see each other on a frequent basis, I work closely with the VP and the national adviser , national security and defense and others... but what happens is I broke my elbow... (in June) very sad. I tripped and fell but luckily I did not hit my head. So I hit my elbow and it broke into two places, that was very.. (but you're only 62 this year.) Why do you have to tell everybody that... so once I broke my elbow, there were a couple of trips I was supposed to take and I couldn't take them. It was just to inconvenient and painful and besides I did not want to do anything that would interfere with the important trips I would be taking to India and Thailand and I knew that if I set back my recovery, that might interfere, SO I went to see the President and I said, you know Mr. President, I'm not able to go to Russia with you. I worked very hard to get the meeting set up and everything... It's been a month and a few days after my surgery and I'm much stronger and I really appreciate the chance to do the time to do the physical therapy. So anyway I was not with the President on the trip and everybody said, ah, where is she? She's gone, she's disappeared. Gosh, I'm actually here. But it's one of those things that happen, not to be taken seriously.

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