Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting Tuesday afternoon that electing a woman to the White House would send "a very strong statement."
"Someday I hope it happens," she said with a smile, in response to a question from moderator Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a host on CNN.
Gupta asked Clinton, who is mulling a second bid for the presidency in 2016, how important it is to her personally to see a woman hold the position of commander in chief for the first time. The question, phrased in a way that made Clinton let loose a booming laugh, was Gupta's last of the afternoon at a panel on women's health.
"That is a question I will answer taking myself totally out of it," Clinton said, alongside three other panelists. "It is, for me, a part of a larger mission to expand participation and leadership among women around the world."
Clinton described the landmark goal as "symbolic," but added that "symbolism is efficacious."
"We have a lot of challenges," she said. "Electing one person, a woman, is not going to end those challenges, but it provides the kind of boost to the efforts that so many of us have been making for so long."
"So I guess the short answer is, I think it would be important," Clinton said. "It's not going to solve all our problems, but I think it would be a very strong statement that would be made to half our population, and half the world's population."