Nov. 17, 2008
Two Clintons In The Spotlight
Washington Post: If Hillary Clinton Is Named Secretary Of State, Bill Clinton's Global Reach Has Both Plusses And Minuses
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Is Clinton Headed To Cabinet?
Barack Obama recently met with Sen. Hillary Clinton which has many speculating that he will offer her the Secretary Of State cabinet position. Bob Schieffer analyzes the rumors.
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Sources Say Hillary Wants In
Sources close to Sen. Clinton say she is interested in being Barack Obama's secretary of state, a long way to come after a heated primary season. Chip Reid reports.
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Clinton Coy On Obama Cabinet
At a press conference in Albany, Sen. Hillary Clinton addressed the swirling rumors that she is on the short list for an appointment in the Obama administration.
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Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former President Bill Clinton appear at an event in Kentucky during her Democratic primary campaign earlier this year. (AP)
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Hillary Clinton
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William Jefferson Clinton
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If Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is named the next secretary of state, she and her husband could be positioned to lead a public-private partnership on the global stage unlike any before it, one that experts say would bring with it a host of potential benefits and pitfalls for the new president.
Since leaving the White House, Bill Clinton has used his connections with world leaders to position himself as something akin to the world's philanthropist in chief -- and become rich in the process by collecting huge sums from foreign companies eager to hear him speak.
That arrangement could be complicated, though, by his wife joining the Obama administration, with the prospect of questions about any conflict of interest or attempts to curry influence.
For the past four years, Bill Clinton has convened the annual Clinton Global Initiative, a glamorous philanthropic conference that brings together hundreds of corporate chiefs, heads of state, humanitarians and celebrities. The William J. Clinton Foundation has ballooned into a global nongovernmental organization with a staff of more than 800, addressing chronic problems such as climate change, hunger, AIDS and malaria.
If President-elect Barack Obama selects Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, she will oversee many of the U.S. government's foreign aid programs, potentially turning the couple into an overwhelming force in global aid, say some leaders in the philanthropic community.
"It boosts her stature, it boosts the work of the Clinton Global Initiative, it boosts the whole concept of American partnerships making a real difference on the global level," said Steve Gunderson, president of the Council on Foundations and a former Republican congressman.
"She will be able to say in many of her meetings, 'We're in a situation where I can't commit congressional foreign assistance, but let me work with the philanthropic community back in the United States to see if there are ways that they can be helpful,'" Gunderson said.
The choice of Clinton would present other potential problems for Obama. He would be investing his fortunes not only with his former rival for the presidency but also in an outsize figure on the global scene who has been conducting a kind of privately financed foreign policy all his own since leaving office. Obama and the former president have also continued to share a somewhat strained relationship since the end of the Democratic nominating contest.
Bill Clinton's web of personal financial ties and public policy pronouncements about the world's challenges would instantly become a source of possible discord with a new Obama administration as his wife travels the same world circuit as America's official emissary.
"He's a former president of the United States. He's been traveling around the world, and he's got his foundation and a lot of foreign policy efforts going on," said Leon Panetta, Clinton's former chief of staff and now a professor of public policy. "What they will have to obviously be careful of are the potential conflicts that might appear."
Supporters of the former first lady reject the idea that her selection as secretary of state would be viewed through a prism of either the benefits or the baggage provided by her husband.
"She was one of the most successful primary candidates," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). "I really think that it's unfair to suggest that there's any type of a package that comes with her appointment."
But Hillary Clinton's presence in Obama's Cabinet would mark a shift in the kind of relationship that presidents have traditionally shared with predecessors who maintained a high profile.
Occupants of the Oval Office tend to keep former presidents at arm's length, sometimes turning to them occasionally to play roles such as special emissary during international disasters or humanitarian crises. President Bush asked both his father and Clinton to raise relief money after the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Bill Clinton, as president, enlisted predecessors to advocate for the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Former president Jimmy Carter was a thorn in the side of George W. Bush, traveling to Syria, Cuba and the Middle East to meet with leaders despite complaints from the White House.
"You want to be able to determine when you are going to make use of a former president in terms of foreign policy or trying to help on particular issues. That can be a very powerful tool if it's used well," Panetta said. "It has to be used with discretion. The last thing you want is to have a former president be a rogue."
Some foreign policy experts said seeking to exploit Bill Clinton's reach and experience could prove a mistake.
"They might be tempted to use him in the Middle East. That wouldn't be a wise thing to do," said Charles Hill, a Yale professor who served several secretaries of state. "It's too American. It's too visible. That's a danger that the Obama team has to face and deal with."
Hill said there is also the danger that the former president's constant presence could lead some world leaders to question the authority of the new president.
"He's got to maintain his stature. He should not want Bill Clinton getting all the ink. Or Hillary Clinton," Hill said. Selecting Hillary Clinton to serve, he said, would violate one of the cardinal rules of foreign policy: "Secretaries of state don't deal with ex-presidents. And if they do, the White House raps their knuckles."
For his part, Bill Clinton said last night that his wife would be "a great secretary of state." Speaking in Kuwait City before an international audience of economists and politicians gathered by the National Bank of Kuwait, Clinton said that if Obama "decided to ask her and they did it together, I think she'll be really great as a secretary of state," Agence France-Presse reported. He said he did not know whether she had discussed the post with Obama's camp.
Hillary Clinton would not discuss the matter Friday, saying in Albany, N.Y.: "I'm not going to speculate or address anything about the president-elect's incoming administration. I'm going to respect his process."
By taking the Cabinet post, Hillary Clinton would also force new scrutiny of her husband's charitable activities and his private financial dealings. Bill Clinton has raised millions of dollars for his foundation but has declined to publicly disclose its benefactors. Likewise, most of the donors who helped bankroll his presidential library in Little Rock have never been disclosed.
"It certainly is likely to sharpen the scrutiny that the press and critics will give to the types of things he does in raising the money," said Joel L. Fleishman, a philanthropy expert and professor of law and public policy at Duke University. Fleishman added that "her being secretary of state would tend to raise the scrutiny."
He's been traveling around the world, and he's got his foundation and a lot of foreign policy efforts going on... What they will have to obviously be careful of are the potential conflicts that might appear.
Leon Panetta, Clinton's former chief of staffThe 63-page vetting document that Obama is using asks applicants whether there are "any categories of personal financial records . . . that you (or your spouse) will not release publicly if necessary. If so, please identify these records and state the reasons for withholding them."
Interestingly, in the margins of a copy of the application leaked from the transition team, the word "Clinton" is written next to that paragraph.
After earning $200,000 a year in the White House, the former president has raked in more than $40 million on the speaking circuit, often from foreign companies in countries where a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would confront thorny issues in the next several years.
Even without a wife in Obama's Cabinet, Clinton has already raised eyebrows with his speeches. In February 2005, Clinton spoke about AIDS to a Swiss biotech firm whose American subsidiary eventually agreed to pay $704 million after pleading guilty to conspiracy. In 2001, he was paid $125,000 to speak to International Profit Associates, an Illinois company that was the focus of a federal investigation and a government lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment.
Clinton has also turned his friendships with wealthy businessmen into a source of personal income. Partnerships with billionaire California investor Ronald Burkle earned Clinton more than $5 million. The former president made more than $3 million as a consultant to InfoUSA, a consumer data business founded by his friend Vinod Gupta.
Clinton has also been linked to controversial foreign deals. A New York Times report suggested that the former president had played a key role in helping a Canadian mining executive, Frank Giustra, win a uranium-mining contract in Kazakhstan.
The paper reported that Giustra donated $31.3 million to Clinton's foundation shortly after the Kazakhstan mining deal was finalized.
Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
By Michael D. Shear and Philip Rucker
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
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We don''t need another corrupted Clinton so close to the presidency. They are back-stabbers and are backed by huge lobbyists. The Clinton era should be over already.
It''s okay for Hillary to be President, but not SOS? ***?
Clitons are power hungry, arrogant, self-absorbed politicians. There are huge conflicts of interest with either of them holding any office. Just open the flood gates for the lobbyists.
I would have NEVER voted for Hillary, yet I did for Obama.
I think he has been working for them for twenty-some odd years now, anyway.
Or maybe he should be ambassador to India...then when he flies around on Vinod Gupta''s jets, at least he MIGHT do something for the people of the United States of America.
Posted by ccfsdca at 11:05 AM : Nov 17, 2008
For 30 YEARS I''ve listened to this garbage!! It''s NEVER the fault of the "Party" is it!! Couldn''t possibably have been the fault of the "Party" that we went from a Balanced Budget and Surplus to where we are. Folks we are teetering on the brink of falling into a DEPRESSION here. We''ve made a DECISION... Obama didn''t make it! Big Brother didn''t make it!! THE PEOPLE WE HANDED THE BALANCED BUDGET AND SURPLUS TO ARE!! Now I''m tired of you people and your snide remarks. We MADE a decision AND I can see and hear as clearly as anyone alive. I listened to the other side, I watched the reports from FOX on all the "Bad" things about this man. I and MILLIONS like me REJECTED the Arguments. If you wish to add to the discussion fine but enough with this NEOCON babble.
"Thank You"
He''ll be passing out cigars to everyone.
The United States is trying to recover from the debacle of having the imbecile George Bush as head of state, a person who is universally despised around the world as an ogre. Now we are faced with getting the Queen of Sleaze as secretary of state. Just more of the same Certainly Obama can do better. -
I voted for change. If Hillary Clinton is secretary of state, I will vote for change again. Maybe McCain wasn''t so bad after all.
Posted by Olivia4441 at 02:22 PM : Nov 17, 2008
Do you really think that Archie & Edith Bunker would do anything to upset George & Wiezie Jefferson''s stay in the new house after they moved on up?
The Vice President has an office about 30 feet from the President. Where would the Secretary of State be? I think he''s showing that his administration will be "More of The Same". Isn''t that what he preached against his whole campaign?
Barack "Same Old Politics" Obama
most of the Ford workers drive Toyota pickups,
I mean really have you driven a Ford Lately ?
LOL! I drive a basic 1999 Toyota Tacoma with a 138K miles on it. No major problems!
The last Ford I had was a 1989 Ford Taurus. Never again!
I bought it with 44K on it for a cheap price.
Never again!
At 60K the air conditioning went out.
Never again!
At 65K the automatic transmission went out, and Ford said it was normal. My mom''s Sable went out at 38K, (9 year old car though).
Never again!
At 67K the tie rods had to be replaced.
Never again!
The paint started pealing off on only a 8 year old car. Other paint jobs on the Taurus for that year were even worse than mine.
Never again!
My friend''s 2000 Ford Escort had the engine needing a total repair at around 70K. He was told that the transmission on the Escort was good, but the engines have problems. My friend is a mechanic-type and does oil changes every 3,000-4,000.
Have you driven a Ford lately? No.
Never again!
Posted by Credibility2 at 11:08 AM : Nov 17, 2008
I don''''t think he''''s doing it to "cover his tracks".
Obama is a smart, intelligent man. Surrounding himself with experienced and qualified people shows you just how smart he is. He''''s aware that he is lacking experience and is doing what he has to to make up for any lack of experience.
You should be thankful that you will have a President with a BRAIN. Do you want your country to go down the drain? Obama is your last hope, so my suggestion is that you all get your sh*t together and start supporting him.
Pssssst.....you might want to consider a name change.
Posted by erasmus81 at 01:23 PM : Nov 17, 2008
erasmus81 excellent post straigt to the point!
Once again excellent in fact I am seeing something in Mr. Obama I wish I could see more of in this country BRAINS AND HOW TO USE THEM.
*** what has Bill Richardson achieved lately... other than being born hispanic???? Stop selecting people just to have a hispanic or minority in a position... if a white person is more qualified, give it to them... if a black person is more qualified, give it to them... Bill Richardson is a governor and needs to stay there! Otherwise, he might be replaced with a republican governor in New Mexico...Where as New York is very liberal and wouldn''t replace Hillary with a republican..... Richardson is more qualified on internal matters... NOT INTERNATIONAL!!!!
Bad mistake for the Democrat supporters, good mistake for the next administration who will likely be Republican.
FORD SUCKS!!
Posted by TheMasses10 at 03:23 PM : Nov 17, 2008
Hey Barack!! If the Clintons'' invite you on a hunting trip, make sure you keep them in front of you!
My Comment to that: Of course, don''t you? If you don''t, then you are as sincerely naive as all of the dumb libs.
My Comment to that: Of course, don''''t you? If you don''''t, then you are as sincerely naive as all of the dumb libs.
Posted by Olivia4441 at 04:18 PM : Nov 17, 2008
Don''t worry! The tongue was firmly in the check.
My Comment to that: Of course, don''''''''t you? If you don''''''''t, then you are as sincerely naive as all of the dumb libs.
Posted by Olivia4441 at 04:18 PM : Nov 17, 2008
Don''''t worry! The tongue was firmly in the check.
Sorry, check that check & make it a cheek.
McCain for Secretary of DEFENSE
Clinton''s are liars and cheaters.Beware!!
Posted by metsobitso at 05:07 PM : Nov 17, 2008
If there was a Secretary of Sleaze that would have to go to Paris Hilton. If it wasn''t for her You-Tube video Obama might not be President elect. And besides, who else in the world would be more qualified & has more experience in the field of sleaze that Paris Hilton. It''s the position (he he) she was born for.
Posted by metsobitso at 05:48 PM : Nov 17, 2008
Hillary wouldn''t allow it. He would never come back.
After leaving office they have stashed millions in offshore Turks and Caicos bank accounts and continue with their shady dealing. The Clintons have alledged ties to Columbian drug cartels dating to their connection with Arkansas Mena Airport drug trafficing and lobbying for the Columbian government. As chairperson for the India Caucus, Hillary was intrumental in outsourcing millions in US jobs to India. Now she wants to be our Secretary of State?
Posted by thuderstone at 06:39 PM : Nov 17, 2008
John Stewart?
Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, would be a complete contradition of all the values we voted for in the last election.
Should be either Bill Richardson or John Kerry. These guys have the credentials and would act as servants of the people. Hillary views it as nothing more than a means to her own personal agenda.
I voted for Obama, but if he chooses Hillary for SOS, then it would be obvious that he is just pandering to the same old powers.
Hillary would be great in any job, but I hope she will stay in the Senate where she can make a difference for all of us.
Hillary didn''t have to be confirmed by the Senate if she had won the presidency.
S.O.S. is quite another matter.
Bill, by refusing to disclose his dealings, can''t pass the test of being a forthright spouse, which indeed, does matter in these issues.
Ask Bess Myerson.....
Posted by Rowdydfw at 08:22 PM : Nov 17, 2008
Have to agree with you here Rowdy.
Kerry is a horse face, pompous a*s and Hillary would do a much better job,.........and I am no fan of the Clintons.
%u201CThe nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground.%u201D
Winston Churchill
thanks Hill, Don''t let the door hit your big fat ***
on the way out!
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by liberty4you
November 19, 2008 5:33 AM PST
- What has become of change in government? Obama wants who to be Attorney General... Pardoner of Marc Rich under Bill Clinton?
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Reply to this comment
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See all 49 CommentsI am opposed to Hillary as Sec. of State due to her "I am holier than thou" attitude toward Barack during the democratic primaries.
Everything that she stood for during her campaign, the way she ran her campaign (i.e. Dictator) and her involvement bashing Obama with Rezko, CanadaGate, Bosnia, Experience, et. al and now she wants to be #2 running the show in the White House.
Why Obama have you not chosen already John Kerry for SOS and Patrick Fitzgerald for AG?
Is this any change that you promised America?