44: Hillary Clinton Bids Presidential Hopes Adieu

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first competitive female candidate for the American presidency who famously cracked but did not shatter the ultimate political glass ceiling, said over the weekend she will not run for president again.

She made the statement, her most definitive to date on the subject, in response to a question posed by "Today"'s Ann Curry during an interview in Zurich, Switzerland.

"Will you ever run for president again? Yes or no," Curry asked.

"No," replied Clinton.

"No?" Curry followed up.

"No. No," Clinton emphasized. "I mean, this is a great job. It is a 24/7 job. And I'm looking forward to retirement at some point."

Clinton, who will turn 62 at the end of the month, would be nearing 70 by the time of the 2016 election, the next in which President Obama is not expected to run.

Clinton also called "absurd" a contention that Curry noted had been laid out in a Washington Post story "that you have been marginalized, that you -- that the highest-ranking woman in the United States [is] having to fight against being marginalized."

"I think there is such a -- you know, maybe there is some misunderstanding which needs to be clarified. I believe in delegating power. You know, I'm not one of these people who feels like I have to have my face in the, you know, front of the newspaper or on the TV every moment of the day," Clinton said.

"I would be irresponsible and negligent were I to say, "Oh, no, everything must come to me." Now, maybe that is a woman's thing. Maybe I'm totally secure and feel absolutely no need to go running around in order for people to see what I'm doing. It's just the way I am.

"My goal is to be a very positive force to implement the kind of changes that the president and I believe are in the best interest of our country. But that doesn't mean that it all has to be me, me, me all the time. I like lifting people up."