Photograph Courtesy HBO

Selina Catherine Meyer, the forty-fifth President of the United States, recently declared her candidacy for the 2020 election. The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer spoke with Meyer in the former “Veep” ’s first in-depth interview since her historic announcement.

Why are you running for President again?

I am a self-confessed running-for-President addict! I just love it! And when the American people cried out to me again and said, “Selina, we need you,” what could I do but answer?

You were the first female President, widely viewed as a feminist hero. Yet some critics have written that you dislike women. How do you respond to that?

O.K., I’m sorry, what “critic” said that? Was it a woman? I bet it was a woman. Sure sounds like it.

How do you feel about calls to abolish the Electoral College?

The Electoral College screwed me six ways from Sunday in the last election! Abolishing is too good for it, in my opinion—that’s off the record, of course—but let me go one step further: it should be burned, Jane. Burned to the ground with all the electors inside and the emergency exits padlocked, like in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. That’s also off the record, by the way.

I’m sorry, but the ground rules were established before this interview began. Everything is on the record.

You know something? I’m going to have my attorney look over the paperwork. But we did agree that this is a cover story, right? That’s really the only reason I’m doing this.

What have you learned from spending time with the citizens of Iowa recently?

People in this country are hurting! And they’re not shy about telling you about it, that’s for sure. Sometimes they want to tell you about their problems for hours and hours and hours. A feeling I’m encountering a lot during my “feelings tour” is the feeling of self-pity. One of the many wonderful things about the American people is that they are so self-reliant, which means they are capable of pitying themselves without expecting others—and especially the government—to do it for them.

Ma’am, why campaign to run the government if you think people are better off without it?

I’m speaking strictly in regard to self-pity here, Jane. My point is that we don’t need to launch a National Self-Pity Initiative or appoint a Secretary of Self-Pity or create a Department of Self-Pity, because, No. 1, we already have the Treasury Department [laughs], and, secondly, because Americans, God bless them, are perfectly capable of pitying themselves just fine on their own. [Laughs] Beyond that, I think I’ve been very clear that I am not in favor of Big Government, but I’m also not a fan of Small Government. I support Medium-Sized Government and have campaigned on that ever since my earliest days in public life.

You have long-standing ties to a political backer who is a private-prison mogul whom you officially pardoned. Is there too much money in American politics?

I think I’ve been very clear on this point: there is nowhere near enough money in politics. Which is why only second-, and, really, mostly third-, or, if we’re being honest, fourth-rate people become politicians, present company excepted. I hope I’m not being too boastful, but I’ve been President, O.K.? And I know the job is worth at least what some disgraced TV executive might receive for getting orally pleasured, shall we say, in his office, which was more than a hundred million dollars, I heard. I promise you, if we started paying the President a hundred million dollars, even without the blow jobs, you’d start seeing some really interesting, high-quality people running. That blow-job comment is off the record, O.K.?

School shootings have become a scourge in America. How will you deal with the issue?

I think we should start with education. These are “school” shootings, after all. But it’s a very serious problem. Do you have any ideas? I think the media should really start pulling its own weight in this country.

The obesity problem has been a personal passion of yours. What do you propose to do about it?

I don’t think fat-shaming is the answer. I know because my daughter Catherine has struggled with weight issues for her entire life. She was a very fat baby and an exceptionally chunky toddler. Everyone noticed it. Inevitably, she grew into a chubby teen, despite my diligent efforts to remind her that she was becoming unattractively overweight. As a perfect example of the sort of poor choices she has made throughout her life, she decided, despite her muffin top, to become some kind of dance major in college. At first, I thought it might actually help, because prancing around in front of other people with your gut hanging out, while wearing a leotard, is a very shameful thing, one would think. But, evidently, not for my daughter.

Your ancestors, you say in your memoir, conducted a thriving “secondary market” for slaves. What is your stance on reparations?

I am in favor! Strongly in favor. I think each citizen who can prove that he or she is descended from a slave or slaves should get a two-thousand-and-two-hundred-dollar tax credit. I challenge my fellow-candidates to make the same commitment.

What is your position on nepotism in politics?

I think the country has been very well served by it over the centuries. Think of Bobby Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt. And not just in politics, by the way. How about show business? Frank Sinatra, Jr., Drew Barrymore, Lou Gossett, Jr.—the list goes on. Or sports. Imagine if Roger Federer had kids. I think we’d all enjoy seeing them play sports.

Have you ever used a private e-mail server for official business?

As far as I’m concerned, once you have entered public life of your own volition, there is no such thing as “private” anything, O.K.? My life is an open book, and I would happily share all of my e-mails with the public if I used e-mail, which I don’t. That’s not to say that I judge people who use e-mail—I’m sure it’s great—but I prefer to leave phone messages, which do a better job, I feel, of communicating emotion and nuance.

Do you tweet?

I think so.

There are allegations that you have colluded with foreign countries, during your campaign. What is your response to these charges?

I am immensely proud of my foreign-policy record! But I believe that America does not have a monopoly on good ideas. A good idea can come from anywhere: Scandinavia, Asia—anywhere. But, you know something? I probably shouldn’t have said that America doesn’t have a monopoly on good ideas. That kind of thing can get you in a lot of hot water these days. [Laughs] Let me rephrase that: America does have a monopoly on good ideas. Always had, always will. I am just in love with this country, Jane, and the wealth of great ideas that seem to almost spring up out of the ground is just one of many reasons.

Did you write your memoir, “A Woman First: First Woman,” yourself? Rumors have circulated suggesting you had one or more ghost writers.

I haven’t made it through the most recent edit of my autobiography quite yet, but what I have read so far is just terrific. Really, really good. If people are disappointed, I suspect that it may be because they don’t read a lot, or maybe because they don’t know how to read. Adult illiteracy is a huge problem in this country and is a cause I’m really passionate about. As you may know, my charity, the Meyer Fund, has pledged to eradicate adult illiteracy in our lifetime—not that I expect much in the way of thanks from book publishers! In my experience, those people are jackals.

Let me just say something more here. I have always been a big reader. I love to read, and I always have three or four books on my nightstand. Right now, in addition to my own book, I have the new Anne Tyler, which I started but which is a bit dense. And also “Hillbilly Elegy,” which I just know I’m going to read—and love—right after everyone else has finished it! Also, that book by Ta-Nehisi Coates that everyone is talking about. And I just got a new one, “Educated,” by Tara Westover. I’m a big believer in education. It really works! Also the Bible.