Clinton Poised to Be Sixty-Sixth Secretary of State
Marina Byerly
Issue date: 12/10/08 Section: News
Be it a surprise or not, President Elect Barack Obama has officially nominated New York Senator Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. Once Obama's opponent in the 2008 Presidential election, Clinton will now become one of his closest confidantes when it comes to foreign affairs. Only after resolving issues concerning Former President William Clinton when it comes to financial dealings abroad was Senator Clinton cleared to continue in the nomination process. The complete set of regulations Former President Clinton agreed to can be found on the YahooNews! website.
Sen. Clinton has quite a bit of political experience, starting in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of Legal Services Corporation. In 1979, Clinton's husband became the Governor of Arkansas and she in turn became Arkansas' First Lady. According to the White House website, for the twelve years Sen. Clinton was the First Lady of Arkansas, she "chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocated for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's hospital, Legal Services, and the Children's Defense Fund". Former President Clinton became President in 1993 and Sen. Clinton again became a First Lady until President Clinton left office in 2001. After being First Lady, Sen. Clinton became a New York Senator and currently holds this position. She has the distinction of being the "first woman to be elected in the State of New York and the first First Lady to be elected to the United States Senate" (whitehouse.gov). Clinton tried to take the next step up from being a Senator on January 20, 2007 when she officially declared she was running for President in the 2008 Campaign. However after losing to Obama in the primaries, Clinton started to officially endorse Obama on June 7, 2008.
There have been sixty-five Secretaries of State so far, Sen. Clinton making number sixty-six. The sixty-third was Former President Clinton's first: Warren M. Christopher. Christopher was very "involved in seeking Arab-Israeli peace agreements and in negotiating peace in Bosnia" (U.S. Department of State). Madeleine Albright was Secretary of State Number sixty-four and was also under President Clinton. She was the first female SOS and the highest ranking woman in the U.S. government. When George H.W. Bush came into office he nominated Colin Powell as Secretary of State Number sixty-five. Powell was unanimously confirmed by the Senate and was formerly a Professional Soldier at the rank of 4-Star General. The sixty-sixth and current Secretary of State is Condoleezza Rice, who formerly was the National Security Advisor.
The consensus of Huffington Post pundits Thomas Freidman, David Broder, Charles Krauthammer, and Maureen Dowd is that Clinton has the skills for the job, despite whether or not she is the best available candidate for the job. When it comes to Clinton's skills, Friedman speaks for many pundits by saying, "Mrs. Clinton is a serious person. She is smart, tough, cunning, hard-working and knows the world." Broder makes a comment that refers to Clinton not being a good candidate for Obama that sums up many pundits' opinions; "He needs an agent, not an author".
Sen. Clinton has quite a bit of political experience, starting in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of Legal Services Corporation. In 1979, Clinton's husband became the Governor of Arkansas and she in turn became Arkansas' First Lady. According to the White House website, for the twelve years Sen. Clinton was the First Lady of Arkansas, she "chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocated for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's hospital, Legal Services, and the Children's Defense Fund". Former President Clinton became President in 1993 and Sen. Clinton again became a First Lady until President Clinton left office in 2001. After being First Lady, Sen. Clinton became a New York Senator and currently holds this position. She has the distinction of being the "first woman to be elected in the State of New York and the first First Lady to be elected to the United States Senate" (whitehouse.gov). Clinton tried to take the next step up from being a Senator on January 20, 2007 when she officially declared she was running for President in the 2008 Campaign. However after losing to Obama in the primaries, Clinton started to officially endorse Obama on June 7, 2008.
There have been sixty-five Secretaries of State so far, Sen. Clinton making number sixty-six. The sixty-third was Former President Clinton's first: Warren M. Christopher. Christopher was very "involved in seeking Arab-Israeli peace agreements and in negotiating peace in Bosnia" (U.S. Department of State). Madeleine Albright was Secretary of State Number sixty-four and was also under President Clinton. She was the first female SOS and the highest ranking woman in the U.S. government. When George H.W. Bush came into office he nominated Colin Powell as Secretary of State Number sixty-five. Powell was unanimously confirmed by the Senate and was formerly a Professional Soldier at the rank of 4-Star General. The sixty-sixth and current Secretary of State is Condoleezza Rice, who formerly was the National Security Advisor.
The consensus of Huffington Post pundits Thomas Freidman, David Broder, Charles Krauthammer, and Maureen Dowd is that Clinton has the skills for the job, despite whether or not she is the best available candidate for the job. When it comes to Clinton's skills, Friedman speaks for many pundits by saying, "Mrs. Clinton is a serious person. She is smart, tough, cunning, hard-working and knows the world." Broder makes a comment that refers to Clinton not being a good candidate for Obama that sums up many pundits' opinions; "He needs an agent, not an author".
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