Bill Clinton Ready To Hit Speakers Circuit
CHAPPAQUA, NY – Former President Clinton will hit the lucrative post-presidential lecture circuit for the first time next week, making a pair of speeches in Florida.
Bill Clinton will speak first for a business convention in Boca Raton on Monday, followed by a Saturday speech at a synagogue in Aventura.
He reportedly will receive a $100,000 fee for the Boca Raton speech — about the same amount that ex-President George Bush makes for his paid appearances
On Thursday, Clinton did interview with an Israeli television crew from his home about political tensions in the Middle East. In the final weeks of his presidency, Clinton had tried unsuccessfully to help the Palestinians and Israelis hammer out a Middle East peace agreement.
The ex-president is also considering a pricey midtown Manhattan office with a spectacular view of Central Park, but no final decision has been made, his spokesman said Thursday.
The space in the Carnegie Hall Tower on West 57th Street “is what we’re looking at,” said spokesman Jake Siewert, who added that no lease has been signed.
Annual rent for the 56th floor suite is expected to run about $650,000 a year. The office, which sits near the Russian Tea Room restaurant and Carnegie Hall, has a commanding uptown view of Central Park.
Like other ex-presidents, Clinton’s post-White House office will be paid for by taxpayers. Because of that, some watchdog groups — like the National Taxpayers Union and the Congressional Accountability Project — have questioned Clinton’s decision to located in such an expensive neighborhood.
The rent is more than twice the $285,000 Ronald Reagan’s California office costs taxpayers. President Bush’s Texas office costs $147,000; President Carter’s in Georgia, $93,000, and President Ford’s in Michigan, $99,000.
The office building is about an hour’s drive from the Clinton’s five-bedroom home in suburban Chappaqua — the home they purchased to launch Hillary Rodham Clinton’s successful bid for the U.S. Senate.
