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Clinton: 'Hard Choices' what every president has to make

Hillary Clinton says the title of her memoir has to do with the tough decisions 'any president' must make.

By Gabrielle Levy
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. UPI/Molly Riley
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. UPI/Molly Riley | License Photo

WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- Appearing on Good Morning America, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the title of her memoir, out Tuesday, as a reflection of what it's like to hold the country's top job.

"The reason I called this book Hard Choices is because that's what any president faces," Clinton said. "I remember very well my husband being in the White House, making some hard choices that were not popular at the time but being able to persevere, and everybody could see the results."

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The book tour, which began its all-out media blitz with an interview Monday night with Diane Sawyer, resembles nothing if not a presidential campaign. Though Clinton swears she won't announce if she's running until next year, she'll spend the next few weeks crossing the country, trailed by the (unaffiliated) "Ready For Hillary" bus, and burnishing her popular bona fides.

The memoir, which spans from the days after her crushing defeat in the 2008 presidential primary through her years serving as President Obama's top diplomat, is a sober appraisal of her time on the job and an unflinching defense of her work, including the 2012 attack on an American installation in Benghazi, Libya.

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Clinton seems to be leaning into Benghazi, which will be one of the main points through which she would be attacked during the campaign. In her interview with Sawyer, Clinton refused to say there was something she could have done differently on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, or the days that followed.

And she is wholly ignoring the critics who say her actions at the time make her ineligible to run for president.

"Actually, it's more of a reason to run, because I do not believe our great country should be playing minor league ball. We ought to be in the majors," Clinton said. "I view this as really apart from -- even a diversion from -- the hard work that the Congress should be doing about the problems facing our country and the world."

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