Bill Clinton: Hillary 'Shocked' at Secretary of State Consideration

Today on CNN's American Morning, former President Bill Clinton spoke to Anjali Rao about his wife's reaction when she first heard the news that she was being considered for Secretary of State. "I think she was shocked," he said. "She first read about it in the newspaper, the speculation."

Rao had the same reaction I did--incredulity. "Really?" she asked.

I just assumed that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had negotiated a specific, if not notarized, arrangement that would detail her exact role, if any, in a potential Obama administration the moment she conceded the nomination.

Of course such an arrangement would be breaking the law, so Bill Clinton would never just tell Anjali Rao and the rest of the universe, "Oh, yeah, that's what Hillary was holding out for when the math looked so bad for us. The deal's been done for months."

Instead Bill Clinton said exactly what he was supposed to say. "It was, I think, a very wise decision by the president-elect," Clinton said, "and I think she made the right decision but for her it was hard. She adored being in the Senate."

The question remains, what's next for Bill Clinton? His office ruled out the former President taking Hillary's Senate seat, and he's toning down his duties at the Clinton Global Initiative, but what about working in the Obama administration?

Clinton said he plans to be a "sounding board" for his wife "unless [President-elect Obama] asks me to do something specific, which I'm neither looking for nor closed to". So that means it's a done deal right?