Hillary Rodham Clinton says she hopes the U.S. will have a female president in her lifetime because it would send "exactly the right historic signal" to women and girls as well as men and boys.

The former secretary of state told a women's conference in Toronto on Thursday night that she will "certainly vote for the right woman to be president."

The speech wasn't open to the media, but a person in attendance posted a clip of Clinton's appearance on YouTube. Clinton has not said whether she'll seek the Democratic nomination in 2016.

Clinton says that "hypothetically speaking," she hopes the U.S. has a female president in her lifetime. She says it "depends on women stepping up and subjecting themselves to the political process," which she says is very difficult.