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Michael Gross/State Department

Though Hillary Clinton demurred Thursday about any chance she'll run for president in 2016, she seemed every bit the candidate during an evening appearance.

The former secretary of state participated in a question and answer session with International Monetary Fund chair Christine Lagarde at the Women in the World forum in New York, and an enthusiastic audience seemed to see the pair as future world leaders.

Moderator and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman prodded the two women about whether they might run for larger roles -- Clinton for U.S. president and Lagarde for European Commission head.

"Madame Secretary is there any other job you'd be interested in?" Friedman asked Clinton, who smiled but did not take the bait.

"Not right now," she responded.

But she and Lagarde did provide the largely female audience with a memorable image, when the two clasped hands in a high-five celebrating women's political power.

During the discussion on a stage at Lincoln Center, Clinton advised women in the audience to focus on education and confidently pursue their career ambitions. She lamented what she called a double standard for women in the workplace, and criticized the media as being the biggest propagator of that imbalance.

Clinton also weighed in on topics ranging from Russian power to Iran negotiations. She said she had devoted an entire chapter to Iran in her upcoming book on her State Department tenure, adding that the increased sanctions on Iran during that time made Iranian leaders open to the preliminary nuclear deal signed late last year.

When asked about the political atmosphere in Washington, Clinton suggested things needed to change.

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Clinton and Lagarde high five female political power