Clinton: I Would've Won Third Term

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 7 -- Bill Clinton says he would have been temptedto run for president again if the Constitution would have let him.And, he says, he would have won.

“Oh, I probably would have run again,” Clinton tells RollingStone in an interview.

Does he think he’d have been a three-time winner?

“Yes. I do. But it’s hard to say, because it’s entirelyacademic,” Clinton said.

He adds that as life expectancy rises, there may be a reason tochange the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two four-yearterms. Maybe it should just limit presidents to two “consecutive”terms, Clinton suggests.

8 Years: Not Enough Time?

Just before and after leaving office, President Reagan,America’s last two-term president, often said he too would havetried to stay on. “Two times isn’t necessarily enough time to getall you want done, done. I still had things to do when I left,”Reagan said in February 1989.

The article in the Rolling Stone’s Dec. 28-Jan. 4, 2001, issue,combines information from three interviews that Jann S. Wennerconducted with Clinton between 1992 and 2000 in Little Rock, Ark.,the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One en route.

The interviews covered a series of topics including hisimpeachment, prison reform, Clinton’s feelings about formerPresident Nixon and what he will do when he leaves the White Houseon Jan. 20.

In an interview just four days before the election limbo,Clinton predicted that Vice President Al Gore would win Florida’s25 electoral votes. He’s not right, but he’s not wrong — yet.

“I’ve always thought Gore would win Florida. We worked likecrazy there for eight years. And we’ve done a lot for Florida, anda lot with Florida. And [Gore’s running mate] Joe Lieberman hashelped a lot in Florida.”

Private Rage Over Impeachment

On impeachment, Clinton said he believes history will exoneratehim. Clinton says his impeachment for actions involving his affairwith Monica Lewinsky was wrong, just as it was wrong for lawmakersto impeach President Andrew Johnson in 1868.