Hillary Clinton 'not seeking presidency'

Hillary Clinton was interviewed by ABC's Barbara Walters

Hillary Rodham Clinton, the wife of former US President Bill Clinton, says she has no intention of running for the White House herself, either next year or in 2008.

She was speaking in an interview with ABC television to publicise her new book of memoirs.

Nine other Democrats are vying for the Democratic Party nomination in 2004.

But with none of them expected to beat incumbent George W Bush, some Democrats are looking to the popular Mrs Clinton to revive the party's fortunes.

I hope that it will lead to a woman running for president

Hillary Clinton

Mrs Clinton - who is a first-time senator from New York - had already ruled out standing next year.

She told ABC's Barbara Walters she had no such plans for 2008 either.

"I'm flattered that the question gets asked... and I hope that it will lead to a woman running for president, and we have a lot of good women," she said.

In a separate interview in Time Magazine, she said she was "having a good time" as a senator, and was looking forward to a re-election campaign in 2006.

Betrayal?

Mrs Clinton received a $8m advance for her book, Living History, which is being released on Monday.

Hillary Clinton's was devastated by the Lewinsky affair

It covers the time when she and President Clinton were accused of financial fraud and his affair with a White House intern - which led to an impeachment in the House of Representatives.

The book describes her fury over the affair, and revisits the public and private damage it did.

"I was beside myself with anger and disappointment," she told ABC.

In the end, however, Mrs Clinton concludes that what her husband did was morally wrong but not a betrayal of the public.

The publisher, Simon and Schuster, expects the book to be a runaway best-seller. One million copies have been printed.