Bill Clinton Submits To Review Of Financial Activities To Help Hillary Get Cabinet Post

November 19, 2008 2:46 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to provide President-elect Barack Obama details of his business and philanthropic activities if his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), is appointed as secretary of State, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Obama is reportedly considering the New York senator, his former rival, for the key Cabinet post. The vetting will ensure that the there is no conflict of interest between Obama's foreign policy and the former president's numerous global advocacies, such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative, and private business dealings, such as his $30 million earnings in speaking fees from 2001 to 2005.

The former First Lady, who reportedly met with Obama last week in Chicago, was silent on whether she was being vetted for the job during a press conference at the the New York State Public Transit Industry Fall Conference. "I'm not going to speculate or address anything about the president-elect's incoming administration... I'm going to respect his process and any inquiries should be directed to his transition team," she said last Friday, according to CNN.

The vetting is expected to be completed this week, and Obama plans to announce his choice for secretary of State before Thanksgiving, Politico cites officials involved in the negotiations.

Several Republicans have signaled their support for having the New York senator serve as secretary of State.

"She is a lady of great intelligence, demonstrated enormous determination and would be an outstanding appointment," former secretary of State Henry Kissinger is quoted by Bloomberg as saying during the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit in New Delhi last Sunday.

The same day, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told Wolf Blitzer on CNN's 'Late Edition,' "I think that she is well qualified. She does have a certain standing in the world that is required in order to be able to demand the respect from other countries to deal with issues that are going to be affecting not only us but other of our allies, our trading partners. And I think that she would be a well placed in that position."

Obama is also reportedly considering Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), an early Obama endorser, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Kerry is a decorated Vietnam War veteran who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs. Richardson served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Energy secretary during the Clinton administration.