Bill Clinton answers the call at work, in campaign

• Bill Clinton helped fire up the base at the DNC
• Hillary Clinton says she has no plans to run for president in 2016
• Secretary of State's future still prompts speculation, however

After learning he had clinched a second term in the White House, President Obama placed his first call to a prominent running mate.

Bill Clinton.

Vice President Biden also worked for Obama's re-election, but it was Clinton's active campaigning that gave Obama something special: the imprimatur of a still-popular former president who stirred memories of the boom economy of the 1990s.

Clinton's role is prompting even more questions about whether another Clinton — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — will seek the presidency in 2016.

Down the stretch, Obama made Bill Clinton a part of his stump speech. In swing state after swing state, Obama told crowds that his economic policies reflected those of Clinton, which contributed to the strong economy of the 1990s.

Clinton praised Obama's economic approach in dozens of campaign appearances. Campaign manager Jim Messina on Tuesday called Clinton "the best economic validater of the president, except, of course, for the president himself."

Clinton made what could be his greatest contribution to Obama's victory with a rousing speech to the Democratic convention in early September, helping fire up Democrats whose enthusiasm had waned.

The former president will now focus full-time on his work with the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative. "That's his future," said spokesman Matt McKenna.

It's another remarkable comeback for Clinton, who survived impeachment and a White House intern scandal. He has been a force in politics for more than two decades, and he may not be done — or at least his family may not be done.

With Obama facing a two-term limit, talk will inevitably turn to the possibility that Hillary Clinton will run in 2016. She is expected to retire soon and has told interviewers she has no plans to seek the presidency.

If she changes her mind, however, she has an effective surrogate at the ready.