Talk about someone who’ll be in big demand and get big bucks: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed with a speakers bureau, the same one her husband former President Bill Clinton uses. The Politico’s exclusive report:
EXCLUSIVE: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will hit the paid speaking circuit this spring (likely April or May) and has selected the Harry Walker Agency, which represents President Clinton, as her agent. Industry officials expect that she will be one of the highest paid speakers in the history of the circuit, with fees well into the six figures in the United States and abroad. Secretary Clinton will likely do some speeches for no fee for causes she champions, and expects to occasionally donate her fees for charitable purposes. Clinton, who will maintain her homes in Washington and Chappaqua, is also beginning to make decisions about the book she has said she will write, an account of her four years as secretary of State. Non-profit work will be another component of her new life, perhaps through her husband’s foundation or one of her own.
—The Harry Walker Agency, based in New York, has also signed up Jim Messina, who is offering talked titled “The Moneyball President: How the Obama Reelection Campaign Handled Its Business—and Why It Matters for Yours,” and “Shaping a Presidency, Electing a President: Insights from America’s Premier Political Strategist.”
—PRICELESS VIDEO: Harry Walker speakers Dee Dee Myers and Karl Rove on the question, “Where Would We Be Today if Hilary Clinton Beat Obama in 2008?” http://bit.ly/Z9XS73
Hillary Clinton will be in huge demand and extremely popular not because of her past positions as First Lady, Senator, or Secretary of State — but because she delivers authentic content when she speaks..rather than partisan rants or boilerplate motivational lines. And then there is this: by going on the speaking circuit, she’ll also add to her donor base of well-heeled admirers. And in each city she’ll visit, whether reporters are allowed into the speech or not, there will be a story about her delivering a talk or a request by local media for an interview. She can pick and choose the ones she wants but it is a win-win arrangement for her.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.