Hillary Clinton names her favorite president — and it's not Bill

Hillary Clinton may be married to former President Bill Clinton, but that still doesn't make him her favorite president in U.S. history. At the Democratic forum in Iowa Monday night, Clinton revealed that her favorite commander-in-chief is neither her husband nor President Obama, whom she served under as secretary of state.
"Sorry President Obama, sorry Bill — [it's] Abraham Lincoln," Clinton said. "Here was a man who was a real politician — a great statesman — but he understood politics and had to work to hold the country together during the war," she said of the Civil War-era president. "And while he was prosecuting that war to keep America together, he was building America, which I find to be an astonishing part of his legacy."
If Lincoln hadn't been assassinated, Clinton said, the present-day political atmosphere might be totally different. "I don't know what our country would be like if he hadn't been murdered, but I bet it would be a little less rancorous and a little more forgiving and tolerant," Clinton said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
See Clinton's full response below. Becca Stanek
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
15 dank Gen Z dating phrases
In Depth Knowing these neologisms can help anyone navigate the extremely online world of youth romance culture
-
What will William be like as king?
Today's Big Question Prince of Wales said he won’t be ‘restricted’ by history when he takes the throne
-
Quiz of The Week: 27 September – 3 October
Quiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland
-
Trump declares new tariffs on drugs, trucks, furniture
Speed Read He's putting tariffs of 25% on semi trucks, 30% on upholstered furniture, 50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and 100% on certain drugs
-
Amazon reaches ‘historic’ $2.5B Prime settlement
speed read The company allegedly tricked customers into signing up for Prime membership that was then difficult to cancel