Hillary Clinton Reveals 2016 Timetable, Won't Say Whether She'll Testify On Benghazi
June 8, 2014 -- Hillary Clinton wants more time through the end of the year to think about whether she'll run for president in 2016, the former secretary of state told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview in advance of Tuesday's release of her new memoir, "Hard Choices."
"I will be on the way to making a decision by the end of the year, yes," she told Sawyer.
But first, Clinton said, she'll go on a book-signing tour beginning this week and she plans to campaign for Democratic candidates running in 2014.
"Certainly not before then," Clinton said, referring to the end of 2014. "I just want to kind of get through this year, travel around the country, sign books, help in the midterm elections in the fall, and then take a deep breath and kind of go through my pluses and minuses about what I will – and will not – be thinking about as I make the decision."
The full interview with Hillary Clinton and ABC's Diane Sawyer will air during a one-hour ABC News prime time special on Monday, June 9, at 9 p.m. ET. ABC's Robin Roberts will follow up with Clinton's first live interview, on Tuesday, June 10, on "Good Morning America."
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Clinton said it is "probably likely" that she will not make an announcement until next year.
"I'm not positive about that, but I think, you know, the way I make decisions, that's probably likely," Clinton said.
Until Clinton makes an announcement, she remains the Democratic Party's leading option for the White House in 2016 – a dynamic that could discourage some would-be contenders from laying the groundwork for a 2016 bid.
A new ABC News-Washington Post poll released Sunday gives Clinton a commanding lead in the race – with 69 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents supporting her for the party's nomination.
Clinton also fares well in public perceptions in the new poll: 67 percent of Americans view her as a strong leader, 60 percent say she's honest and trustworthy, and 59 percent say she has new ideas for the country's future.
But in the ABC News interview Clinton dismissed the notion that her deliberations are hurting the party or affecting other potential candidates.
"People can do whatever they choose to do on whatever timetable they decide," she said, noting that her husband, Bill Clinton, didn't begin his first presidential campaign until the fall before his election year.
"Bill Clinton started running for president officially in, like September or October of 1991. So, no, I just don't think that' a real concern. People will do what they think is best for them," Clinton said. "Whether they choose to seek the presidency or not is very personal, for everybody."
