Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 64, couldn't make it to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, last night to greet President Barack Obama, 51, and watch her husband, Bill Clinton, 66 make his speech, but she was there in spirit, watching Clinton's address from the island of East Timor 10,000 miles away, one stop on her current multi-country tour.

State Department Photo

It was the first Democratic Convention that Clinton has missed in "many, many years," she says, due to the fact that her role as secretary of state makes her attendance at such a partisan event unethical. "Officially, let me say that for decades, secretaries of state have not attended political conventions because of the nonpartisan nature of our foreign policy," she said, addressing her decision to forego the convention at a press conference held in East Timor's capital, Dili, reports BusinessWeek.com. "I think it's a good rule. It's one that I certainly accept."

Still, it didn't mean that Clinton couldn't watch from afar and gush over her husband's 49-minute performance. "It was great," Clinton told reporters before boarding her plane from East Timor to Brunei, reportedly all smiles. "Let me also say that my husband read parts of his speech to me over the last several days. I am anxious — when I can — to compare it with the 'as delivered' version," she said, laughing.

Clinton, who, just over four years ago, was embroiled in her own heated primary with President Obama, was invoked several times in and before her husband's speech, as when Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren, 63, introduced Bill Clinton as "an amazing man who had the good sense to marry one of the coolest women on the planet."

Watch Bill Clinton's Democratic National Convention speech here:

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