Considering Clinton for secretary of state would mean Obama was expanding his search beyond other candidates mentioned for the job, such as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat who lost the 2004 presidential election to George W. Bush; Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican who backed Obama over McCain this year; and Richardson, who was the US ambassador to the United Nations during Bill Clinton's presidency.

Obama has been closeted all week in meetings in his transition office in Chicago as he prepares to take over the presidency on Jan. 20.

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine said on MSNBC that Clinton would be great as secretary of state.

"She probably knows every major foreign leader. There's already a relationship where she can sit and talk directly about the problems that exist either on a bilateral or multilateral basis," he said.

Corzine would not address speculation that he is a candidate to be Obama's Treasury secretary, amid reports that another candidate for the position, Lawrence Summers, was fading due to opposition from women's groups upset at him during his tenure as president of Harvard University.