Clinton to join lucrative after-dinner speaking circuit

Hillary Clinton will turn her experiences as America's Secretary of State and First Lady into millions of dollars by joining the lucrative after-dinner speaking circuit, it has been announced. Mrs Clinton resigned as President Barack Obama's chief diplomat at the end of last month. She has joined her husband, former president Bill, at one of the most prestigious speaking agencies in the US, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported here Tuesday. Having been paid 186,600 Dollars (120,224 pounds) per year as Secretary of State, she will command a six-figure sum for less than an hour of anecdotes collected during her 12 years at the heart of Western power. The 65-year-old will hope to emulate the success of Clinton, who has made an estimated 89 million Dollars in fees as one of the prize assets at the "Harry Walker Agency" since leaving office in January of 2001. "We are proud to share the exciting news that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has joined the Harry Walker Agency exclusively for her speaking engagements," the firm - which also represents Dick Cheney, the former US vice-president - said in a brief message posted on its website. Representatives for Mrs Clinton could not be reached for comment, the newspaper added. Mrs Clinton said before stepping down that in addition to public speaking, she expects to write a second memoir and take teaching positions at US universities before considering her long-term future. She is under intense pressure from Democratic allies to run for the party's presidential nomination in 2016, having been defeated by Obama in a hard-fought contest in 2008. Having spent four years on a gruelling schedule, which included almost 90 full days on flights, she has repeatedly brushed off suggestions that she is already hatching plans for one last political campaign. Yet speculation has continued to mount, amid the disclosure that Obama's political operation has paid off Mrs Clinton's remaining quarter-million-dollar debt from 2008. A group of supporters has founded "Ready for Hillary", a fundraising group poised to assist any official campaign.