Although she has no ethnic roots in Ireland, Hillary Rodham Clinton enjoys huge support among Irish-Americans and maintains a keen interest in Irish affairs.
At this week's rally of undocumented Irish immigrants in Washington, DC, she received the most rapturous reception of any speaker and, in New York tomorrow, she will accept an award from Irish Americamagazine.
Clinton has visited Ireland seven times since 1995, most recently in 2004, when she delivered the Tip O'Neill lecture in Derry and visited the Clinton Peace Centre in Enniskillen.
"To me, Ireland and the Irish-Americans are such huge contributors to everything I love about my own country," she says. "The more that I've gotten to visit the island both South and North, the more at home I have felt. So it started off being something that Bill and I thought was the right thing to do, to try to use American prestige to help the process in the North and it turned into a labour of love.
"Now it's just as natural to us to think about going to Ireland or seeing our friends who come from Ireland and staying involved in the peace process as we have over all these years, as anything else I can think about that's so important to me."
When we met, Clinton was eager to hear about the emerging results of the Northern Assembly elections and she promises to keep a close eye on the North if she becomes president.
"We want to support the new Assembly and do what we can to make it successful, try to help it not get detoured by these speed bumps which are inevitable. Democracy is messy. Dealing with people across sectarian divides is particularly challenging.
"But I want the people of Ireland to know - and I think we can say this regardless of who is in office - that America is proud to be a partner, friend and ally in the ongoing economic progress that we've seen both in [ the south of] Ireland and the North and we now see in the peace and democratic process as well. For me, it is very gratifying. I'm very proud of my husband. I'm very honoured to have played a small role in getting us to this point and, as president, I will be a very strong supporter of Ireland and Irish interests."