What to do after a spell in the White House? It is a problem which has troubled recent former US presidents. Jimmy Carter restored his reputation by turning down the lucrative lecture circuit, preferring to offer his assistance to international trouble-spots and fragile democracies. Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan went straight for the lectures and the loot. George Bush has maintained dignity in his retirement by cultivating his elder statesman standing. Most former US presidents however find themselves out of office close to retirement age or, in the case of Mr Reagan, way past it.
President Clinton, on the other hand, at only 54, will be way ahead of retirement age when he steps down from office. He had hinted that he and Hillary might find suitable postings in academia but that was before Judge Starr put him through the wringer. Now, he will need to make serious money to pay his legal debts so his options are more limited. But the options open to Mrs Clinton have widened and she is said to be "seriously interested" in running for the US Senate from the state of New York. The Democratic Party is desperate for her to run; without her candidacy, the seat - being vacated by Senator Dan Moynihan - is likely to fall to the Republican Party.
If Mrs Clinton decides to run, she will have a fight on her hands. The Mayor of New York, Mr Rudolph Giuliani, is certain to be the Republican candidate and while he is not much loved he is respected as someone who gets things done. His zero tolerance campaign against crime was over the top but it achieved results that will be held in high regard by middle-class voters. In addition, he has built up a huge war chest and he cannot run again for the mayoralty.
Mr Giuliani argues, with some justification, that Mrs Clinton started running last January. She makes regular forays into New York on high profile visits. Her last trip abroad was to Ireland, her next trip abroad is to Israel; trips that would be followed eagerly by New York's important Irish and Jewish communities. This week she may go one step further by announcing the formation of an "exploratory committee" and it is likely to be staffed by serious heavyhitters from the first Clinton presidential campaign.
The wonder is that Mrs Clinton wants it. She has never disguised her disdain for Washington and the Congress. Now, she seems prepared not just to remain on in Washington but to work in the Congress. If she is successful, she will be low-down in the Senate pecking order, which is built on seniority, and she will have to sit and work with colleagues who voted to convict her husband of high crimes. But it would be a high profile position guaranteeing her much publicity were she to use it as Robert Kennedy did, making the camera lights shine into dark places of neglect. Mrs Clinton may be taking the long view. Could not the first woman senator from New York, should she prove successful, become eight years later the first woman candidate for the Oval Office?