Clinton in Schaumburg: Businesses must think globally

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke about the need for global cooperation and innovation in solving world problems during a speech near Chicago.

"The financial crisis proved our interdependence," Clinton told about 2,000 people at a convention of Indian Institute of Technology alumni in Schaumburg late Saturday.

"What I want in the 21st Century is for nobody to be dominant, including the United States," he said. "I want a world where we have to work together."

Clinton backed President Barack Obama's push to overhaul the U.S. health care system, which he said was a major factor holding back the country's economy.

"America is uncompetitive today in no small measure because of our health care costs," he said.

The former president paused during his speech on innovation, education, climate change and efforts to combat poverty to answer his cell phone. On the line was his wife, the U.S. Secretary of State, calling from Zurich.

"She's the only person who has this number," he said, before answering the phone. "She said to say hello," he said, after a brief private conversation.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have both cultivated close ties with the Indian-American community and have benefited from the group's campaign contributions.

The former president made no mention of the Nobel Peace Prize won yesterday by President Barack Obama, whose adopted hometown of Chicago continues to celebrate his selection.

The award has never been bestowed on Clinton, despite his efforts to bring peace to Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the Middle East, as well as his creation of a philanthropic initiative after his presidency to confront global problems.

Nobel Silence

Clinton remained silent on Obama's prize -- while mentioning a Nobel winner from a previous year -- during his 43- minute speech and a subsequent 15-minute, moderated session where he took pre-written questions from audience members.

Since Clinton left office in 2001, three fellow Democrats have won Nobel prizes.

Obama, 48, is the third sitting U.S. president to have won one, following Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Former President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 and former Vice President Al Gore received it in 2007.

Carter and Gore have both issued statements congratulating Obama. A spokeswoman for the William J. Clinton Foundation could not be reached for comment.

Sunil Acharya, an audience member from Pennsylvania, said he was not surprised Clinton did not mention Obama's prize.

"It's a peculiar platform," he said of a speech setting designed to focus on global innovation. "I didn't expect it."

Warming Ties

Clinton and Obama appear to have warmed to each other following an ugly primary campaign between the current president and Hillary Clinton, the former president's wife.

Elsewhere in Chicago, supporters in the city that is Obama's political base continued to revel in the Nobel recognition for one of their own.

"It shows how much esteem the world has for our president," Penny Pritzker, who led Obama's campaign fundraising effort and is chairman of Pritzker Realty Group, said in a statement. "I'm sure the president finds the award both humbling and inspiring."

Alan King, a Chicago lawyer and longtime friend of the president, said the announcement is in keeping with Obama's rapid assent.

"While I can't say I ever imagined that this was something he would accomplish, what else is new?" King asked. "He continues to shatter all expectations, and I think this recognition is well-deserved."

'Improved Standing'

King dismissed criticisms that it came too quickly in Obama's presidency.

"It validates what the worldwide community recognizes, that the president has already changed the tone and greatly improved America's standing around the world," he said.

Douglas Baird, a law professor at the University of Chicago who recruited Obama to the faculty there, said he was surprised by the timing.

"It wouldn't have surprised me that it would happen eventually," he said.

Obama was recognized in part for his longtime commitment to reduce nuclear weapons. The University of Chicago is the site of the world's first self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

"With any luck, the threat of nuclear war will begin and end at the University of Chicago," Baird said. "That would be a nice thing to say, but that's premature."