In an interview with Japan's TV Asahi, Clinton said he did not know whether his wife, a senator from New York state, has any plans to one day run for the presidency.

"I don't know if she'll run or not," he told the network, but added, "She would make an excellent president, and I would always try to help her."

Hillary Rodham Clinton has said she plans to run for re-election as New York senator in 2006. Speculation has periodically surfaced, however, that the 57-year-old former first lady may have her sights set on the presidency in 2008.

Results from a U.S. poll released last week showed that 6 in 10 American voters believe the United States is ready for a female president.

Fifty-three percent thought Hillary Clinton should try for the job, according to the survey by the Siena College Research Institute and sponsored by Hearst Newspapers.

"If she did run and she was able to win, she'd make a very, very good president," Clinton said Sunday. "I think now she's at least as good as I was."

Clinton was in Japan on a three-day visit to attend an international forum organized by the Asahi newspaper and to promote a Japanese-language edition of his best-selling memoir, "My Life."

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