Hillary Clinton's $382,000 speech, plus comfy cushions

Hillary Clinton's fee of US$300,000 ($382,000) for her UCLA speaking engagement went to the Clinton Foundation. Photo / AP

Clinton’s requirements for engagement reinforce suspicions she’s out of touch with ordinary folk

It was a list of requirements worthy of a Hollywood diva - from the temperature of the water in the carafe, to the shape of the chair cushions and the crispness of the crudites, nothing was left to chance when Hillary Clinton came to speak at the University of California at Los Angeles this year.

The new details of the former Secretary of State's extensive personal requirements for one of her US$300,000 ($382,000) speaking engagements emerged yesterday, leading to suggestions that she has become increasingly out-of-touch with ordinary people.

"Coffee, tea, room temp sparkling and still water, diet ginger ale, hummus and sliced fruit," requested Clinton's advance team, according to emails obtained by the Washington Post under freedom of information laws.

A week before the speech, the Clinton team arrived on a reconnaissance mission, throwing out the lectern the university offered and sending officials to find a replacement and a correctly sized university seal to go on the front. Clinton's representatives also demanded she have access to a computer, printer and a scanner, which the university had to buy specially for the event, which was privately endowed by Meyer Luskin, an investor.

After deliberations over the shape, colour and upholstery of the chairs to be used at the event, Clinton's representatives specified "two long, rectangular pillows", with two more kept backstage in case she needed additional back support.

The lecture on "Thought Leadership" is one of scores of paid speaking engagements that Clinton has performed since leaving office in 2009, with her fees going to support the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton family philanthropy arm.

Although Clinton does not personally profit from the events, there has been increasing scrutiny of the Clintons' jet-set lifestyle in the runup to the announcement, expected early next year, that she will run for president in 2016. On a campaign visit to Iowa for the Harkin Steak Fry political fundraiser, documents showed that organisers had paid US$50,000 to fly the Clintons into the state.

The idea that Clinton might be losing touch with the ordinary voter came back to the fore this year when she told an interviewer that she and her husband, Bill Clinton, were "dead broke" when they left the White House. It emerged from the documents that Bill Clinton had delivered the same Luskin lecture at UCLA in 2012, but charged only US$250,000. When the university asked Hillary Clinton for a discount, given their status as a public institution, they were told that US$300,000 was the "special university rate".

The university gave Clinton the UCLA Medal in recognition of her achievements. The former First Lady accepted but said it should not be hung around her neck, but presented in a box.

Guests paid up to US$2000 for a pair of tickets and a photograph with Clinton as organisers tried to claw back some money, reducing the number of free tickets available to students to 413.