please welcome president bill clinton. >> most popular political figure in america. >> as another president once said, there they go again. >> but clinton's impact is not just here in america. it's global. >> i love my life now. it's just fun. >> he's taken whatever capital that he had as an ex-president and has really put it toward trying to do real good in the

world. >> bill clinton is a new kind of world leader. >> i think he is the master of the trade. he is the single most extraordinary confident politician i've ever met. >> it's a statesman's role unlike any other, planetary in scale. >> i want to keep being very active in the things i cared about as president in the thing that is i can still have an influence. >> people go wild. he is such a great ambassador for the united states of america today. >> there's one phrase that people have said, and that's that he's president to the world. >> 62 heads of state, hundreds of corporate leaders. multinational types. movie stars. an unparalleled collection of

the powerful and celebrated gathered together to assert and combine their influence, all here because one man asked them to come, one of the very few people in the world with both the will and magnetism to command such a gathering. the sixth annual meeting of the clinton global initiative in new york city. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the 42nd president of the united states, william jefferson clinton. >> i look out beyond the world leaders and i see barbara streisand and james brolan and i see gina davis who played a better president than i did and i never thought in my lifetime i would be on this stage and the rolling stones would be watching me perform so thank you, mick jagger, thank you ronny wood. >> clinton moves in a whirlwind pace. i spent a week with him in the fall of 2010 trying to keep up. and propelling his global effort is just one part of what he

does. it's election season and his party needs him. bill clinton can't resist the call of the campaign stump. >> hello! >> it's what he was born for. >> the great thing about being a former president, you can say whatever you want. and then, of course, the bad thing is nobody really cares anymore. but you can say it. >> hardly. millions care what this former president has to say. >> i think in his post presidential phase his legacy is in the power of his personality, in the example he sets of somebody being willing to persevere. it's been one of the most consequential ex-presidencies that we've seen. >> no longer the head of state, clinton personifies america on top, a self-created success for a self-created country. >> big, gregarious, outgoing, loving life, fun, personable. >> it looks like a furry animal but it's a microphone.

>> the best attributes of our country -- caring, giving, willing to help, and i think president clinton embodies that. >> bill clinton has become something new in the world. when he travels, he's received as an intercontinental head of state. it's a vision he realized, a global role that's become a living, breathing phenomenon. >> hello. >> across the atlantic, clinton is incredibly popular. a few days after his global initiative, and the campaign events, we catch up with him in ireland. here he christens an institute named in his honor. it's dedicated to american studies. and who knows america better than bill clinton? he stops to plant a tree, a ritual of hope he has performed dozens of times during his long career, yet he still has the enthusiasm and humor of a first timer. it is here at his institute that clinton slows down to look inward and examine the

monumental changes in his life since departing the white house. >> did you ever have a pause where you thought, i don't know what i'm going to do next and then this began to develop, this almost global role you play now? it is global. >> in the middle of my second term as president, i began to think about what i would do and in general i thought of two things. i thought number one i want to keep being very active in the things i cared about as president where i can still have an influence. the second thing i wanted to do was to try to explain the world we're living in to my fellow americans and the people around the world. so everything has sort of grown out of that. >> following the former president is a little like going >> oh, my god, he shook my hand! >> different cities, different

countries, exuberant crowds, always the same feeling that wherever bill clinton arrives it's an event, a happening to be experienced and remembered. >> he's a superstar, isn't he? he is the magnet that attracts all the rest of us toward him. >> if you can do it here i can figure out how to put it everywhere and get it funded. i'll really help you. >> there is this combination of both an enormous intellectual capacity combined with an enormous heart. >> there is no housing program for widows? >> there is one phrase that people have said to me, and that's that he's president to the world. >> his friends are world leaders, rock stars, movie actors. his spiritual home is the distance from one event to the next. >> we have a great time. we talk, talk sports, talk everything. he wants to get every ounce of life in while he's on this earth.

>> despite the jet set schedule and world class connections, he is still the same old bubba, running hours behind because he just can't stop enjoying any and every person he meets. >> hi. what's your name? how old are you? >> he's fascinated by people. he's curious about people. i remember when he came to speak for me at the labour party conference some years back and we were supposed to meet him after he had spoken and we found him eventually down in the local mcdonald's holding court with all the people who happened to be there, a bit surprised to see bill clinton suddenly amongst them. >> your children, are they well? is she doing better with medicine? >> he listens. he understands. i think he innately has an affection for and understanding for people who have gone through difficult times and are struggling. and i think that that has been a huge part of what drives him.

>> like most world leaders, clinton sees his post presidency as a way to strengthen his legacy. >> bill clinton does believe in second chances and to some extent i think he sees his post presidency as being a second chance for himself. >> while the scale of clinton's later life achievements is extraordinary, his post presidency combines elements of several earlier presidents. the international stardom of teddy roosevelt who won worldwide attention with his africa safari. the public redemption of herbert hoover, who left office blamed for the great depression, but had his reputation enhanced when president truman named him the direct famine relief in post war europe. and the low key humanitarian work of jimmy carter, who has become an intrepid envoy to world hot spots. winning the nobel peace prize. he's devoted his life to doing good deeds and monitoring elections. >> they both have a real emphasis on humanitarian works overseas.

not surprisingly with bill clinton, his has gotten much more of an amped up celebrity dimension than jimmy carter's. >> looking at bill clinton now, it seems obvious his post presidency would be global and triumphant. ten years ago the outlook was far from clear. a-a-a. f-f-f-f-f-f-f. lac-lac-lac. he's an actor who's known for his voice. but his accident took that away. thankfully, he's got aflac.

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bill clinton's post presidency is unlike any before. >> i had always said that bill clinton would run for president for the rest of his life -- not literally but figuratively -- and i think i underestimated him. i think he is going to run for president of the world for the rest of his life. >> but in january, 2001, as the clinton administration is coming to a close, it is difficult to see what he will do next. the president is only 54 years old, and now saying good-bye to the greatest job he could imagine.

>> they may find somebody who can do this job better than me. they will never find anybody who had any more fun doing it than i had. >> this is a person who's had a very purpose-driven life, so he had to find that purpose again. >> daunted perhaps by the thought of leaving office -- >> i want to thank the academy for this tremendous honor. >> he is able to make fun of his situation with this comedy skit he did for the white house correspondents dinner. >> yazhtsee! >> you did it my man. >> in reality his last days in the white house were a frenzy to beat the clock. >> wanted to get the middle east peace treaty done, working on north korea issues. he was working around the clock. hillary had to drag him out of the oval office and say we're leaving in 12 hours. you got to pack. >> you see that sign there that says please don't go? i left the white house but i'm still here. >> i think it was very difficult for clinton to step away from

the spotlight even in his final moments in office he basically wouldn't stop talking even as george w. bush was being inaugurated. >> clinton's immediate departure is hurt by his 11th-hour pardon of fugitive financeer mark ritch but overall his presidency ends on a high note. a strong economy, the impeachment process fading into the background, his approval rating higher than any departing president in the modern era -- 66%. >> mr. president, we haven't heard from you in a while. what's going on? >> i'm working on my house, man. >> after spending his whole adult life in political office, clinton lacks an established role. hillary clinton is the new senator from new york. >> the white house years, the administration of my husband are over, and i'm going to be focused solely on the job that i can do to help new york. >> the former first couple makes their new home just north of new york city in the small town of chappaqua. the senator spends much of the week working in washington leaving the former president

home alone. >> he was feeling at loose ends. i've had the biggest achievement of my life. what am i going to do next? he didn't have an answer and that left him down. >> when i was leaving the white house i thought of myself as a guy who had been let's say a star quarterback in the nfl. look how early they have to retire. or, you know, most professional athletes have a career of four or five years. look at the career magic johnson has had in business and with his own foundation. he decided that he wanted to be as good in business as he was in basketball and while doing it, he wanted to inspire young people who could never be professional athletes to realize they could have meaningful, good, successful lives. >> bill clinton takes his first step toward finding his purpose by setting up the william j. clinton foundation. not in his home state of arkansas but in the center of action, new york city. then comes a stumble out of the gate.

his choice of a midtown manhattan skyscraper for his post presidential office is roundly criticized. true to form, clinton regains his footing with his second and better pick, an office on 125th street up in harlem. it's a classic bill clinton comeback. in this case, lickety split. >> i love you, harlem. thank you. god bless you. i feel at home. thank you. >> in december of 2001 he breaks ground on his presidential library, little rock, arkansas. it's a low key affair. bill clinton needs to focus on the short term as well. he needs a significant income for new family homes in new york and washington to cover millions in legal fees from the fruitless whitewater investigation as well as to raise funds for the library. he writes a successful memoir and gives hundreds of speeches earning tens of millions in speaking fees. he is even then feeling his way to a higher purpose. >> he realized that his next big mission would be to do what he

had done as president, to do this now as a private citizen. >> in 2002, clinton joins nelson mandela at the international aids conference in barcelona. >> we must find ways and means to make life-saving treatment available to all who need it. >> clinton is inspired to launch the clinton hiv/aids initiative to negotiate affordable rates for medications in developing countries. >> the first thing we had to do is get the price down because people were dying like flies. then we said we won't go any place we're not asked and then when they asked we made it clear that we had to have a strict, no corruption policy. i just said, this is life and death. >> you do any kind of followup with your partners, their husbands, their children? nobody can be taking any money out of this. we have to keep the price down and speed up the delivery and make it effective. >> clinton spends a lot of time

and energy helping african nations. kevin spacey joins him on a 2002 trip. >> there was a period of time we had a little trip. he said there's a market i want to go to. by the time we got inside, word had gotten out that he was there and out of everywhere in this township came people and they were yelling, peacemaker. peacemaker. peacemaker. >> some see clinton's interest in africa as in part making up for his belief the west could have intervened in the 1994 genocide in rwanda when an estimated 800,000 people were butchered in a tribal conflict. during a post presidential visit to rwanda, he addresses the issue directly. >> let me ask you. what you're doing here even just a little bit is it to make up for the inaction of 1994? is there a tiny bit of atonement there? >> i suppose there is. i told them in '98 when i came

here and apologized to them that i would do everything i could to help them begin again. and when i left the white house, i tried to keep my word. but it's more than just trying to atone. i think these are truly extraordinary people, and i think they don't deserve to have their whole future defined by those dark days. what about the soybeans? what is the yield? >> i think that he is motivated across the continent of africa because there is so much poverty, so much need, and there is so much opportunity. >> back home clinton's momentum has shifted. in november, 2004, he opens his presidential library in little rock. despite torrential rain, three american presidents attend. in the crowd are such friends as barbara streisand and robin williams. >> this library is the symbol of a bridge, a bridge to the 21st century.

what it is to me is the symbol of not only what i tried to do but what i want to do with the rest of my life. building bridges from yesterday to tomorrow, building bridges across racial and religious and ethnic and income and political divides, building bridges. >> clinton's ability to build bridges between countries is about to be called on in the face of terrible tragedy. >> if there is a crisis in the world, he loves to be in the middle of it because he believes he really can help. at a dry cleaner, we replaced people with a machine. what? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it? hello? hello?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello?

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honey maid teddy grahams. two new flavors now made with real fruit. in december, 2004, a tsunami devastates southeast asia. in a moment of worst-case horror, lives and livelihoods are swept away. a tragedy of such magnitude requires a massive relief effort, and the face of the american response must abe statesman of stature. >> i thank you all for coming.

>> president bush appoints two former presidents to the task -- his father and bill clinton. together, the two men take to it with gusto. >> they believe it's their moral responsibility not only as former presidents but as representatives of the united states of america, we are truly the one global leader. with that, comes responsibility to help people in dire need. >> the two electoral rivals from 1992 strike an unusual partnership, and it clicks. >> barbara referred to him and introduced him the other night as my son, bill, but maybe overstating it a little bit. >> what did you feel about that relationship? it is sort of heralded now. what an interesting almost father/son relationship between you and the guy you beat. >> well, running against him actually was personally difficult for me. i didn't have any problem on the political differences we had. >> that's what's wrong with mr. bush. his whole deal is you got to be against it. you can't make it better.

i believe we can make it better. >> but i liked him and i'll tell you an interesting story. in 1983 the governors met in maine and then vice president bush hosted us. my daughter was 3 years old and i introduced her to president bush. he said hello, chelsea. she said, hello. where's the bathroom? and the vice president took my daughter by the hand and walked her to the bathroom. that's the kind of guy he is. >> hi. how are you, you beautiful girl? >> you know, our politics are very different. our life experiences are very different. but at the core he is a very good man. >> it was once said of fred astair and ginger rogers that he gave her class and she gave him sex appeal. in this pairing, the elder bush gives -- clinton, the juice. >> energizer bunny here will kill me. >> clinton's energy, wide ranging friendships and rock star status come together in

2005 in the creation of the clinton global initiative. the idea was advanced by his chief of staff. >> in the post presidential years doug has helped bill clinton sort of organize almost a corporate enterprise that takes advantage of bill clinton's global brand. >> what has been the key to keeping your leverage? because you seem to have more now than you had say ten years ago. >> i think the secret is two things. i think first of all the global initiative you have to make it interesting but you have to not only make it possible for them to meet people who might help them but to learn things. secondly, i think you got to do something. you don't have to change the world if you change one life or a hundred or a thousand or 10,000. you've done something. >> the annual conference brings in hundreds of leaders and organizations. membership costs $20,000 and is limited to top executives. the goal is to get people to not just talk about changing the

world but committing to a specific action. >> how are you doing on the clean car stuff? >> the way he's brought people together, i think he is doing something nobody else could do and it's his own personal charisma that sort of i think is the linchpin for all of it, but it's turned into actual change. >> the idea is you got to say what you want to do, be clear, and then get caught trying to keep it. >> if we'd restore those wetlands we could have avoided a lot of pain and suffering. >> our commitment was to empower young people across the country to be citizen journalists and tell the human stories in their communities using technologies. >> i have an ngo to stop trafficking and that i set up as a commitment here. and so every year i come and we try and get traction on what we're doing. >> last year when we were here, we were at a session talking about technology and how we make sure technology reaches the poor. 300 million women across the world who could have access to mobiles are not getting it.

and we're trying to reach 150 million of those women over the next three years. >> over the years, more than 1900 commitments have been made, which the cgi says have improved the lives of 300 million people. >> one of the things i think the president has really focused on is not the what, but the how. how do you actually make change happen? how do you get solutions on the ground? >> the global initiative wants attendees to empower people to help themselves, whether they're providing eye care services to 20 million people in developing countries, building sustainable homes in hurricane ravaged new orleans, or bringing a billion gallons of clean water to tanzania. >> people are always feeling helpless in the face of these huge movements that are shaping their lives. ask her what she liked the best. i really do think that asking people to do things and then helping them do it gives people confidence. it makes their lives make sense

again. because it's like planting your own garden, knowing you can grow food. >> bill clinton's position in the world continues to grow. he's part dignitary, part humanitarian, part politician, part international statesman, and somehow greater than them all. in 2009 his diplomatic skills were put to the test in the most delicate of intercontinental missions. >> he just grabbed them and held them and told them that, you know, things would be okay. we would get them help. (growls) (man) that's a good look for you. (woman) that was fun. (man) yeah. (man) let me help you out with the.. (woman)...oh no, i got it. (man) you sure? (woman) just pop the trunk. (man vo) i may not know where the road will lead, but... i'm sure my subaru will get me there. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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i'm veronica de la cruz. mexican officials have reportedly captured a key leader responsible for major cocaine and marijuana trafficking. he is also reportedly responsible for much of the violence along the southern texas border. he is the second major gang boss capture in mexico in just over a month. strong winds and dry timber

are fueling the dangerous beaver creek fire in idaho, threatening 10,000 homes near the resort town. i'm veronica de la cruz. now back to our program. bill clinton has taken on a lot of roles since leaving the presidency. the most news making has been that of international diplomat. >> i think clinton not only sees himself as a global statesman but as the global statesman. >> clinton still has the stature of a head of state, but is free of the responsibilities of governing. he now has the time and freedom to take on difficult and sometimes sensitive missions. in march, 2009, two american journalists, laura ling and euna lee, are on assignment in china when they stray into north korea. they are captured and sentenced to 12 years hard labor.

at north korea's request, bill clinton travels as a citizen intermediary to handle their release. >> other people had offered to go and to try to deal with and talk to the north korean government. i have my own speculation but it's nothing more than speculation, which is that i think that kim jong-il wanted to interact with president clinton. >> former white house chief of staff john podesta accompanied clinton. >> i'll remember it for my whole life. they took us to the hotel. we demanded to see the young journalists. and the doors swung open and the two of them were there. they saw president clinton standing there and they just literally fell into his arms. >> when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president bill clinton. we were shocked.

but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. >> in january, 2010, an earthquake measured at 7 points on the richter scale crushes the nation of haiti. more than 230,000 people are killed. a million people lose their homes. even the presidential palace is left in ruins. bill clinton steps forward again to help. >> when something like this happens, he's the first one to go. you have to hold him back a little bit. but as soon as they let him go, he's gone. >> clinton has a strong personal connection to haiti. he and hillary first visited in 1975 shortly after their wedding. and as president, he threatened a u.s. invasion of the country to return the elected president

jean bertrand to power after he was pushed from office in a military coup. it worked. >> the dictators have recognized that it is in their best interests and in the best interests of the haitian people to relinquish power peacefully. >> after the earthquake, president obama asked clinton to help direct the u.s. relief. this time, his assigned partner is the younger george bush. >> they developed a good, close personal relationship. they wanted to work together. honestly, who wouldn't step up to the plate if you can help people? >> bill clinton's international leadership is an unofficial counterpart to his wife's official role as america's top diplomat. the secretary of state and the former president seem to be everywhere at once, circling the globe each in their own orbit, communicating by satellite. their work is separate. their grand interests unite them. in october, 2010, the secretary of state hosts the u.s./northern ireland economic conference in washington. three weeks earlier, bill

clinton had traveled at her request to northern ireland. >> working on the irish peace process was one of the two or three great honors of my life and i thank you, all of you, for proving that peace is possible. >> as president, bill clinton played an historic role in ending decades of sectarian violence and terror between northern ireland's protestant and catholic communities. clinton jump-starts peace talks between the warring factions beginning by telephone from the oval office. the final agreement, called the good friday accord, was history changing. >> the parties have made brave decisions. they have chosen hope over hate. the promise of the future over the poison of the past. >> the whole good friday accords, how are they looking now? >> i think, you know, there have been some tensions but i really believe that the fact that the two leaders here are focused together on this economic

problem proves that the peace process worked. i just looked around today, and i feel so normal as compared to 1995. >> normal between the communities? >> normal between the communities. and normal, everybody's out working. they don't have to show up for some american politician or anything else. >> you got a great reception here, though. >> but their lives are under control. >> it's clear president clinton has returned to northern ireland for something more than a victory lap. he's here to help again. this time as a civic booster to help revitalize the ailing economy. no detail is too small for his attention. >> the global shortage of fresh fish and the rise of agriculture in northern ireland is an enormous opportunity for you. you have fewer than half million tourists last year. there should be at least a million people coming here every year as tourists. there is an enormous opportunity

here to fund new artists and crafts people. >> bill clinton is renowned for the breadth and depth of his knowledge. just name the subject. >> while he was president for the last term, we went up to the u.s. open in new york, the tennis tournament. john mcenroe came over and sat with the president for a little bit of time and all of a sudden i see the president over there using his hands and talking to john mcenroe about how he should grip the tennis racket. so mcenroe and his daughters leave and i said, mr. president, why were you giving john mcenroe tips on how to hold -- you don't even play tennis. here you are telling one of the greatest stars of all time of tennis how to hold the racket. without missing a beat oh, mac i really thought i could help him with it. >> since leaving office clinton's intellectual curiosity has blossomed. >> still learning things. i'm interested in learning things. i hope i can finally understand physics before i leave the earth but i also, you know, have a

little more time now. i still spend about an hour a day thinking about the economy. i think that you're supposed to keep learning until you don't have any more time left. >> bill clinton's post presidential focus is international in scope but he keeps an eye on and a hand in american politics. >> that's what i'm telling you. this is a choice and you better make the right choice for yourself and your children and your grandchildren and your future. one of those speed-eating contests. that's a hebrew national hot dog. a kosher hot dog. that means we're extra choosy about the cuts of beef that meet our higher kosher standards. and only a good, old-fashioned slow-motion bite is gonna capture all that kosher delight. and when your hot dog's kosher, that's a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national.

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for the first six years of his post presidency, bill clinton keeps a low political profile. but in 2007 his wife, senator hillary clinton, announces she is running for president. the former president becomes her biggest advocate and campaigner in chief. >> thank you. >> early on, he was such a big,

huge rock star that when hillary was first running, you know, for him to go out to an event, get gigantic crowds in and then turn it over to hillary and let her explain why she is running for president. as the battle between senator clinton and her major opponent barack obama heats up, bill clinton often plays rough defense. >> it is wrong senator obama got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war, give me a break. this whole thing is the biggest fairy tale i've ever seen. >> i think he did not feel obama by virtue of his experience was ready for the presidency and he saw hillary clinton as just a vastly superior alternative and i think was shocked and embittered that democratic voters didn't see the situation the same as he did. >> bill clinton's omni presence on the campaign trail becomes a source of growing tension between the candidates. most notably at the democratic primary debate in south carolina. >> you talked about ronald

reagan being a transformative political leader. i did not mention his name. >> your husband did. >> well, i'm here. he's not. >> okay. well i can't tell who i'm running against sometimes. >> people begin to question if it is seemly for him, a former president, to be hitting so hard against a fellow democrat. >> you can understand his wife was running for president of the united states of america. i mean, this is his wife. he wanted hillary to win more than oxygen itself. >> let's just saddle up and have an argument. what's the matter with that? that's what america is about. >> but bill clinton doesn't lose his political touch for long. by the democratic national convention in august, 2008, he has come out strongly in support of his party's nominee. >> everything i learned in my eight years as president and in the work i have done since in america and across the globe has convinced me that barack obama is the man for this job.

>> after he is elected president, obama asks hillary clinton to become his secretary of state. to further his wife's cause and to allay all concerns bill clinton opens his foundation's finances to the public revealing his powerful and well connected donor base. as obama's secretary of state, hillary quickly puts the campaign behind her. but for bill clinton the healing process takes longer. it's not until the fall of 2010 that all appears completely forgiven between the former and current presidents. >> bill clinton understands where i'm coming from here. he knows what it's like to be married to somebody who's smarter, somebody who's better looking, somebody who's just all around a little more impressive than you are. >> bill clinton spends much of the fall helping out president obama and the democratic party. >> this is the 126th event i've done for almost 90 candidates. >> diving into the nitty gritty of national and even local electoral politics. >> thank you for letting me come

back. >> this is what he lives for. he loves nothing more than campaigning and meeting people and shaking hands. >> oh, my god! he shook my hand. oh, my god! >> let's send a message to washington. let's get our country back. >> a tough mid-term election for democrats. president obama's approval rating is down after two difficult years in office. bill clinton is besieged with requests from democrats to campaign for them. he splits his schedule between who the white house wants him to boost and returning help to candidates who backed his wife in 2008. polls show him the most popular democrat of the season. >> he's the single most extraordinarily apt and competent politician i've ever met. that's not because he is simply good at communicating, good at the art of politics. it's all anchored in what, in fact, are very strong and well worked out convictions. >> throughout the fall bill clinton barnstorms the country arguing. >> this is a choice and you

better make the right choice for yourself and your children and your grandchildren and your future. >> lecturing. >> here's the deal. there's always a gap between when you vote for change and you start implementing it and you feel it. >> pleading. >> whatever happens, i don't want it on my conscience. i've seen this movie before. i don't want to see it again. >> crisscrossing the nation from connecticut to california, west virginia to washington state. he's the person the white house dispatches to the key states for 2012. ohio, florida, colorado, to bring out the crowds and ask sales resistant voters to give the democrats a chance. >> if you say right from the get-go president obama is a closet socialist who wants to extend the reach of government across the length and breadth of the land and choke off free enterprise and small business and individual initiative and

therefore i got a big -- it may work in the short run but in the end the country loses. >> i have lived long enough to be able to say this. forget about politics. whenever you make an important decision in your life when you're mad, there is an 80% chance you will make a mistake and you will get exactly what you do not want. >> let's talk about that phenomenon in american life since you left office and it's gotten worse, much worse, of this fiery negativity. >> hum. i don't know how it could get much worse than newt gingrich, tom delay, and kenneth starr. i think that part of it is that the american people are having a tough time and i think in anxious times people get on more of a hair trigger. they're afraid they are not doing right by their families, afraid their own dreams are going to be thwarted. and the siren song kind of politics, on one extreme or the other seems to have more weight. >> republicans have one control of the house of representatives. >> the republicans win the 2010 election in a landslide but for

bill clinton the campaigning was not about backing winners. it was about helping his party and personal loyalty. after the mid-term elections president obama calls again on clinton's political skills and popularity. >> bring the other guy in. >> in december, 2010, clinton joins the president at the white house podium to rally support for obama's deal with the republicans over extending the bush tax cuts. in an unexpected way it puts on the stage for all to see the country's most vital political alliance -- obama and the clintons. clinton holds forth to the assembled reporters for half an hour demonstrating his sharp, up-to-date grasp of the economic problems facing the country. >> we have to go beyond direct investments, whether they're stimulus projects or tax cuts to private growth but to get there we have to achieve a high level of growth that triggers confidence.

so i personally believe this is a good deal, and the best he could have gotten under the circumstances. >> president obama departs after a few minutes leaving clinton alone. for a short while it almost seems like clinton is president once more and he is enjoying every moment at the national podium. >> mr. president, i get the feeling that you're happier to be here commenting and giving advice than governing. >> well, i had quite a good time governing. >> you know, he says he's out of politics, come on. he's out of elective office, yeah. i agree with that but he is such a presence on the political scene. >> bill clinton has found professional success in his post white house career but there have been some personal changes along the way. ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker every day. ♪ ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm working every day. ♪ ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm saving all my pay. ♪ small businesses get up earlier and stay later. and to help all that hard work pay off, membership brings out millions of us on small business saturday and every day

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mr. president! welcome! >> hello. >> in july, 2010, clinton mania finds its way to the small town

of rhinebeck, new york. >> hey, guys, keep walking. >> mr. president, how does it feel to have your little girl growing up? >> it's good. >> the occasion? chelsea clinton's marriage. it's a private ceremony, but media interest is overwhelming. >> of course it's a wedding that's being billed as fit for american royalty and it doesn't appear to disappoint. >> long time clinton friends ted danson and mary steenbergen are among the few famous guests invited to attend. >> watching the support that bill gave his daughter and the way he honored her and the admiration that he has for her and the respect he has for her and for this lovely man that she married was very moving. >> chelsea asked one thing from her father, that he lose 15 pounds for his health before she gets married. >> she told me the other day, dad, the only thing you got to

do is walk me down the aisle and you need to look good. >> five months earlier bill clinton experienced chest pains and underwent a heart procedure. it is not his first time with heart issues. in 2004 he had a quadruple bypass. >> i think he's always thought about his mortality. i think that's haunted him since he was a teenager. his father lived a short life and he didn't think he would live too long as well and so he had to grab every moment he could during life. >> his daughter's request has the desired effect. clinton adopts a vegan diet and goes the challenge five pounds better, losing 20 pounds before the big day. even if this famous fan of fast food does find a little room for creative interpretation in his diet every now and then. >> you know, late at night, 2:00 >> today bill clinton has reached a high point in his post presidential life. he's grown into a global role he

created and is more popular than ever. >> double down on trickle down. honors our values, brightens the future of our children, our families and our nations. it's a heckative lot better. >> clinton got something else at that convention, a warm hug from his former adversary, and now ally, barack obama. as bill clinton looks forward to his future, his wife is also thinking about hers. hillary clinton says she's ready to follow in her husband's footsteps and step away from any official role in government. >> i think i'll serve as secretary of state as my last public position and then probably go back to advocacy work, particularly on behalf of

women and children and particularly around the world. >> whether the clintons will truly leave politics behind depends, of course, on events to come. but there's no doubt that whatever they decide to do, they won't be slowing down. >> i think until that last breath of bill clinton, whenever that may come, he will be doing the same thing, traveling the world, helping people. you're never going to hold him down. as we sit here today, there's going to be some big international incident somewhere around the world. and the first person to answer that bell will be bill clinton. >> you have decided, leaving the white house as a young guy, to really build a second act, if you will. this notion of being a public world leader, absent portfolio, absent an office, how far can you go with this?

>> i remember deliberately thinking and during my second term i thought about this a lot, there may be nothing i could ever do that would be as consistently fulfilling and demanding and that could change as many lives as some of the best things we did that i did when i was president. but it's really dumb to waste one day of whatever life you have left wishing you could still do something you cannot do anymore. so i just said i'm just going to throw myself into this heart and soul, have the best time i could, and i've had a wonderful time. the better life you've had as you get older, the more you want to give to somebody else. it's just fun. i love my life now and i get to do things now when i go places that i never could do when i was president. and so i'm just happy. it's what makes me happy.

eve of destruction. let's play "hardball." good evening i'm michael smer conish in for chris matthews. leading off tonight hope or hopeless? despite a politic litany of challenges facing republicans, party leaders put on a brave face at this week's summer me