President Barack Obama said he sat down for an unusual joint interview with his outgoing secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, "to have a chance to publicly say thank you."

"It has been a great collaboration over the last four years. I'm going to miss her — wish she was sticking around," Obama said in an interview with "60 Minutes" to air on CBS this Sunday.

"I want the country to appreciate what an extraordinary role she's played in the course of my administration," he added.

The president's high praise will no doubt stoke speculation about Clinton's own chances to succeed Obama in 2016. Many Democrats hope that Clinton, a former rival of Obama's during the 2008 primary, will seek the nomination; the outgoing secretary of state leaves office at the height of her popularity.

Clinton herself acknowledged that the joint sit-down interview would have seemed rare after her '08 battle against Obama.

"A few years ago it would have been seen as improbable because we had that very long, hard primary campaign," he said.

But she praised the president for his work, and said she wanted to serve out of love of country. Neither Clinton nor Obama addressed the former first lady's possible future political plans in the clip released by CBS.