Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been acting like she's going to run for president in 2016.
While she has not officially said either way, "in my mind, she's running," her State Department economic guru Robert Hormats told CNBC on Thursday.
"She hasn't said she is. But I think if she does, I'd support her. I think she'd be a terrific president," Hormats said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "She did a great job at State."
If Clinton were to challenge Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, it would pit the two of them against each other again.
Clinton and Biden both sought the nomination in the 2008 race for the White House.
Biden hasn't said whether he'd run, but The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that political allies of Biden believe he can win the nomination—even if Hillary Clinton enters the race.
Vice presidents have had a strong track-record of winning the nominations of their parties. In fact, the last sitting VP who ran and didn't win the nod was Democrat Alben Barkley in 1952.
"Biden's a good guy, but Hillary's position now is much stronger than it was four years ago," said Hormats, who served under Clinton as undersecretary of state for economic, energy, and agricultural affairs. He's also a former international vice chairman at Goldman Sachs.
"The business community would love her," he added. "One of the things we were able to do at State working together … is be much more supportive of the business community, and much more supportive of the private sector."
—By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_SquawkCNBC.
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