Obama and Clinton
Obama and ClintonReuters

Hours after the FBI announced it would not recommend that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton be indicted over her use of a private email server, President Barack Obama threw his full weight behind her presidential bid.

"I'm here today because I believe in Hillary Clinton," Obama told a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he appeared alongside Clinton. "There has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office."

Obama touted the four years Clinton served as his top diplomat as evidence of tough-nosed grit, and acknowledged that he himself is a Clinton convert after their nasty 2008 primary campaign, according to CNN.

"I came away from that primary admiring her even more because during that year-and-a-half, I had a chance to see up close, just how smart she was and just how prepared she was, especially since I debated her a couple dozen times," Obama said. "I saw how even when things didn't go her way, she'd just stand up straighter and come back stronger."

Clinton discussed their hard-fought race from eight years ago and said, "I feel very privileged because I've known the President in many roles. As a colleague in the Senate, as an opponent in a hard-fought primary, and the President I was so proud to serve as secretary of state.”

"I also know him as the friend that I was honored to stand with in the good times and the hard times. Someone who has never forgotten where he came from," she added.

Obama officially endorsed Clinton in a video he released last month, saying at the time, “I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office. I want those of you who have been with me since the beginning of this incredible journey to be the first to know that I'm with her. I’m with her. I’m fired up. And I can't wait to get out there and campaign with Hillary."