Donald Trump

Bill Clinton: Hillary Clinton Is the β€˜Best Darn Change-Maker I Know'

"She always wants to move the ball forward. That is just who she is," the former president said

Bill Clinton took the stage Tuesday night for his 10th address to a Democratic convention, the ex-president, husband and party standard-bearer stepping into a singular role in American history: potential first gentleman.

The former president's speech was by far his most personal, reminiscing about "a girl" he met on the Yale campus and detailing Hillary Clinton's lengthy career in public office.

"She's the best darn change-maker I ever met in my entire life,” Bill Clinton said. "This woman has never been satisfied with the status quo on anything. She always wants to move the ball forward. That's just who she is."

He never mentioned Donald Trump by name, dismissing Republican attacks on Clinton as "made up" and instead, focused on his wife's achievements and her influence on him.

"I have lived a long full blessed life. It really took off when I met and fell in love with that girl in the spring of 1971," he said. 

Describing some of the lesser known parts of Hillary Clinton's biography, Bill Clinton cast his wife as a champion for civil rights who has long fought to improve the lives of children and the disabled.

"If you're sitting where I'm sitting and heard what I have heard … you would say this woman has never been satisfied with the status quo on anything. She always wants to move the ball forward. That is just who she is," Bill Clinton said.

And in a subtle dig at the Republican nominee, Bill Clinton said his spouse "never made fun of people with disabilities. She tried to empower them."

Delegates at the Republican National Convention last week portrayed Hillary Clinton as untrustworthy and repeatedly called to "lock her up." The former president closed his speech by pushing back against what he calls the Republican "cartoon" version of his wife and the "real" Hillary Clinton. 

Bill Clinton's potential role as the first male to be a first spouse, and the first former president to reoccupy the White House from the East Wing, is perhaps the strangest twist in a political career known for its second acts. After health scares and political missteps, the Comeback Kid, as he was known in his first presidential race, could come back to Washington one last time.

While aides have said he will not get a cabinet post or a setup in the Situation Room, Hillary Clinton has made clear that her closest adviser will remain involved with her administration, saying he'd likely have a role in managing the nation's economy.

The two frequently talk multiple times a day, say aides, and Bill Clinton is often in touch with top staff in the campaign. He weighs in on important choices, including advocating for Hillary Clinton to select Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate.

"I am probably still going to pick the flowers and the china for state dinners," Hillary Clinton said in a December primary debate. "But I will certainly turn to him as prior presidents have for special missions, for advice and in particular how we're going to get the economy working."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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