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Obama: Hillary Clinton "would be an excellent president"

Hillary Clinton is planning to announce online that she will run for president again
Democrats await Hillary Clinton's presidential announcement 01:18

With Hillary Clinton set to declare her presidential candidacy on Sunday, the man who thwarted her last bid, President Obama, said Saturday that she'd make an "excellent" commander in chief.

"She was a formidable candidate in 2008, she was a great supporter of mine in the general election, she was an outstanding secretary of state, she is my friend, I think she would be an excellent president," the president said during a press conference in Panama at the Summit of the Americas.

Hillary Clinton to announce her bid for the presidency 01:48

Asked whether he hopes she campaigns on his record, Mr. Obama said, "I'm not on the ballot. So I'm not going to step on her lines."

"When she makes a decision to announce, I'm confident that she will be very clear about her vision for the country," he added.

The president praised Clinton's stewardship of his administration's foreign policy in his first term and said she has a similarly strong track record on domestic policy issues.

"She's going to have some strong messages to deliver," he predicted.

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