Clintons Close To Home?
While President Clinton and his family settled into a borrowed lakefront mansion for a few days of rest and relaxation in upstate New York, they also edged closer to buying a New York house of their own.
The Clintons were enchanted by a 110-year-old Georgian colonial they toured last weekend in Westchester County, N.Y., and may move to purchase it soon, people familiar with the couple's house search said.
The family needs a place to live when Mr. Clinton leaves the White House in January 2001. And if Hillary Rodham Clinton decides to run for the Senate seat now held by retiring Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, she must establish residency in New York before Election Day 2000.
It was unclear whether the Clintons were prepared to make an offer on the $1.7 million house in Westchester County. But two people familiar with the house search said the Clintons had their hearts set on the Georgian colonial on Old House Lane.
White House officials say that to avoid affecting the Clintons' negotiating position, they will not release details on any purchase until a deal is sealed.
CBS News Correspondent Diana Olick reports the first family is starting to relax a little on their vacation.
From a presidential pizza run to a good book for the first lady, the Clintons are trying to take it easy. But the business of politics is never far behind
CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller reports that under the cover of sightseeing, the first lady got to do some campaigning Wednesday as she and the president spent part of the day visiting historic sights.
They stopped at the house of William Seward, who served President Lincoln as secretary of state and negotiated the U.S. purchase of Alaska. The Clintons also stopped by the house of Harriet Tubman, a one-time slave who brought 300 others to freedom in the north.
At each stop, the first lady took the opportunity to shake hands with New Yorkers whose votes she may need if she runs for the Senate.
At the New York State Fair Monday, she jumped into the crowd, visited some of the exhibitions and delivered what certainly sounded like a campaign speech.
"One of the great joys that I've had in the last several months is to travel around this extraordinary, beautiful, diverse, dynamic, exciting state and meet a lot of different people in all different kinds of settings," Mrs. Clinton said. "I've been from one end of the state to the other and I'm going to be back many times."