When Bill de Blasio becomes New York City's 109th mayor on Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton will be the one swearing him in. 

De Blasio and the Clintons have a long history. De Blasio served in the Clinton administration as a regional director for the Department of Housing and Urban Development; he also served as Hillary Clinton's campaign manager for her 2000 Senate run. 

Molly Ball, national political reporter for the Atlantic and a Clinton Chronicler said in this interview that the swearing-in will be a chance for de Blasio to move away from his reputation as a “wild-eyed socialist.”

“He’s certainly an unabashed liberal and an economic populist, but he has a lot in common with Clinton’s philosophy even if his rhetoric is not as centrist or triangulating,” Ball said. “He’s trying to send a signal that he’s not an extremist on the left and can work with everybody.”