Obama and Clinton on '60 Minutes': What's the fallout? (+video)
(Read article summary)An unusual '60 Minutes' joint interview gave Obama and Clinton a platform to talk about each other, rather than the attack in Benghazi, and send a message of Democratic Party unity.
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sat for an unprecedented joint interview that aired on “60 Minutes” Sunday night. If you missed it, it was both jolly and elegiac, like a goodbye party for a valued employee. Which, in a way, is what it was.
Mr. Obama and Secretary Clinton talked about the bond they’d developed over the past four years – “very warm, close," according to the latter. They discussed how their staffs and spouses had taken some time to get over the way they’d fought in the 2008 Democratic primaries. Oh, and they dealt with foreign policy, too – a bit.
Both gave well-rehearsed answers to the inevitable question about the attack in Benghazi, Libya.
“We did fix responsibility appropriately. And we’re taking steps to implement that,” said Clinton, pointing to an internal Accountability Review Board report on the issue.
“It is a dangerous world,” added Obama.
Then, CBS interviewer Steve Kroft asked whether the United States had become too reticent on the world stage. Obama and Clinton easily parried this general question.
“You’ve got to be careful. You have to be thoughtful. You can’t rush in, especially now, where it’s more complex than it’s been in decades,” said Clinton.
