Talking Heads

Bill's Big Haul

Clinton earned $5.7 million last year in speaking fees.

So what was Bill Clinton up to while his wife was running for president? According to Politico, Bill Clinton earned $5.7 million in speaking fees last year, almost all of it from foreign sources, and over $2 million came after rumors began circulating that Hillary would be appointed to secretary of state. Appearances in Kuwait, China, and Malaysia all occurred in the last three-and-a-half months of 2008, while "the Clinton and Obama camps were hammering out the agreement under which President Obama ultimately offered Hillary Clinton the job as top diplomat," and Clinton was compensated over $200,000 for each of those engagements. As part of his wife's confirmation process, former-president Clinton agreed to alert ethics officials to any foreign speaking arrangements.