Dec. 2, 2008
Obama-Clinton Rapport Key To Success
Washington Post: President-Elect Will Need To Admit Former Rival Into His Inner Circle For The Partnership To Work
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The "Soft Power" Effect
President-elect Obama's national security team has pledged that America's international problems cannot always be solved by force alone. David Martin reports.
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Sen. Clinton Nominated for Sec. Of State
President Elect Barack Obama has nominated former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Vaughn Ververs, Sr. Political Editor for CBSNews.com, weighs in on the choice, as well as Obama's other picks.
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A New Leadership For America
President-elect Barack Obama unveiled his new national security team, including Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Chip Reid reports.
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The relationship between President-elect Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, seen here campaigning together in Florida in October, will be key to her success as his secretary of state. (AP)
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Obama's Cabinet
The latest names and status of posts within Obama's new administration.
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Hillary Clinton
A look at a life and career full of firsts.
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Leaving the news conference in Chicago yesterday where he introduced his national security team, President-elect Barack Obama strolled out of the room arm in arm with his choice for secretary of state and onetime rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The gesture may have been a subtle indication that Obama is aware that one of the biggest questions about his choice of Clinton is the kind of relationship they will be able to forge in the months ahead.
Many of the most successful secretaries of state, though not all, enjoyed great influence with the presidents they served, giving them crucial leverage with foreign leaders and inside the national security establishment. But Obama and Clinton are only starting to develop the kind of rapport that could lead to that trust, and the ultimate success of the senator from New York in her new role may depend as much on Obama's willingness to admit her to his inner circle as her ability to master the intricacies of the Middle East peace process or North Korea's nuclear weapons program, according to senior foreign policy officials from past administrations.
Democrats familiar with the transition said the two have spent time over the past several weeks discussing the parameters of the job and how they would work together: Clinton received assurances that she would have the kind of access to Obama she needs, as well as the authority to pick her own team. They said the Obama team would like her to select James Steinberg as her deputy, but that hardly seems a problem, since Steinberg worked closely with her husband in the Clinton White House as deputy national security adviser.
Ironically, Steinberg recently co-authored a book raising questions about the wisdom of appointing "all-stars" -- foreign policy experts and prominent members of Congress with little connection to the new president -- in key national security jobs. While such appointments can help foster a sense that a new president has made the transition from campaigning to governing, Steinberg and co-author Kurt M. Campbell pointed to numerous examples of the appointments leading to discord and disappointment, especially in the Clinton administration.
Some close to Clinton and Obama say the two are well aware of these potential pitfalls. In their private discussions in recent weeks, Obama "really made an effort to say that she would be an important member of his team," said one Democrat familiar with the transition effort.
Melanne Verveer, Clinton's chief of staff when she was first lady, said Clinton was heavily influenced by watching her husband conduct foreign policy. "She learned the importance of there not being sunlight, if you will, between the secretary and the president in terms of foreign policy," Verveer said. "She really understands the importance of speaking with one voice, and that is the president's voice. Her record is very clear on that -- and that is exactly what she will do."
Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright said that the body language of Obama and Clinton, as well as the public statements they have made since the primary season concluded, suggest that the partnership will work. "I think they are both highly professional and highly respectful of each other," she said. "I am sure that in fact that they have worked out a way that she will have the kind of access she needs. She will give him her opinion unvarnished, but she will also be a very good team member."
Clinton, if confirmed, may be the most prominent figure to hold the top job at State in modern times -- a presidential candidate and former first lady who knows other world leaders on a first-name basis and has been a fixture on the world stage since the 1990s. Her nomination is the first time that a president has appointed a major political rival to head the State Department since 1881, when James Garfield chose James Blaine.
"I think this is a sensational appointment," said Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, who served as Bill Clinton's national security adviser. "She brings intellectual firepower. She brings a high energy and a credibility in the world, which will be very valuable. Obama has shown great leadership in putting this team together."
But the risks to the appointment are substantial, and success is far from guaranteed. Clinton has enormous star power, but some of her predecessors who were initially greeted as rock stars, such as Colin L. Powell, proved to be less effective than anticipated. Clinton has no real experience managing a large government bureaucracy, and in fact her two most significant management missions -- running the health-care task force in her husband's first term and her own presidential campaign -- were riven by infighting. And Bill Clinton has been a magnet for controversy.
During the primary campaign, the two leading Democrats also fought bitterly at times over foreign policy, with Clinton questioning Obama's willingness to talk with Iran's president and Obama questioning her judgment in supporting the resolution giving President Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq. But associates of both Clinton and Obama say the differences were magnified during the heat of the campaign; Clinton, they say, shares Obama's desire to restore American influence in the world through diplomatic efforts such as a new initiative aimed at getting Iran to halt uranium enrichment that could lead to the development of a nuclear weapon.
"She is very keen on having America's leadership restored in a way where we are respected, where we are capable of talking to countries we don't like," Albright said. "That would be her modus operandi, and it fits with what Obama has said."
James M. Lindsay, director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas's LBJ School of Public Affairs, said there are several key ingredients for a secretary of state's success. First, he said, a secretary needs "a mixture of political savvy and a vision for the world." Second, the secretary needs the trust and support of the president -- "someone who takes your calls and doesn't hang you out to dry." And third, "having a strong will to work and an ego wrapped in leather."
Many of those qualities describe James A. Baker III, who worked for President George H.W. Bush and is generally regarded as the most successful of modern secretaries of state. Baker came to the office with few defined foreign policy views -- but worked for a president who did. He was also the president's closest friend, which made him a formidable force when combined with his political skills as a former Treasury secretary, White House chief of staff and presidential campaign manager.
In much the same way, Condoleezza Rice's close relationship with George W. Bush helped pave the way for influence overseas. Kings and prime ministers believed that she had a direct line to the president, and that when she spoke, she was speaking for him -- in contrast to Powell, her predecessor.
"Clinton's challenge will be to make sure her stewardship of the State Department is compatible with the views of the new president," said Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter.
By Michael Abramowitz and Glenn Kessler
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
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See all 69 CommentsYea I thought about that also.But when you look back at the primaries Obama said she had no forien policy experiance and Clinton said he had no experiance to be president.Both are true but someone is lying.
Posted by lady_organs at 11:26 AM : Dec 02, 2008
...and may he have mercy on your ignorance.
Posted by Rowdydfw at 11:01 AM : Dec 02, 2008
Makes sense to me, Rowdy. I mean what could be more self serving than your suggestion that HRC took this position only to further her political/financial goals?
DaVicar1
Doesn''t matter much what Obama says or does. You''re are clearly so full of partisan hate that you will find a reason to criticize. The worst thing that could happen by bringing former Clinton staff into the Obama''s team is that we might have a chance of returning to the peace and prosperity of the Clinton years rather than the wars and recession that Bush has brought us.
Your country voted overwhelmingly for change. If you can''t help, just get out of the way.
Doesn''t matter much what Obama says or does. You are clearly so full of partisan hate that you will find a reason to criticize. The worst thing that could happen by bringing former Clinton staff into the Obama''''s team is that we might have a chance of returning to the peace and prosperity of the Clinton years rather than the wars and recession that Bush has brought us.
Your country voted overwhelmingly for change. If you can''t help, just get out of the way.
Posted by Rowdydfw at 11:03 AM : Dec 02, 2008
Although I wouldn''t categorize CP''s presentation as outright lies, the truths were clearly obfuscated, manufactured, etc. I remember watching his presentation and going on about possible WMD labs that were ''moved.'' Evidence being tire tracks to a location of a fomer ''structure.'' We were lead to believe it was a biological production lab purely because it wasn''t there anymore. And don''t forget about those aluminum tubes.
Still waiting for those WMD''s to show up.
As a matter of fact, he said absolutely nothing more than Clinton had been screeching about for EIGHT YEARS!
Posted by Rowdydfw at 11:52 AM : Dec 02, 2008
What you really need to do is compare and contrast Hans Blix''s testimony with CP''s. CP claiming that Iraq didn''t have nuclear weapons but was actively persuing the technology is still an obfuscation.
Then, let''s move to the chemical and biological issue the Bush administration was screaming about. Where are all those stockpiles.
Posted by Rowdydfw at 11:56 AM : Dec 02, 2008
Um, wake up Rowdy. Hillary beat the snot out of him? Do you just make this stuff up as you go along?
Ahhhhh, isn''t that sweet. It almost brings a tear to my eye.
Posted by raflin0010 at 11:48 AM : Dec 02, 2008
I doubt she has to worry about that anymore.
Posted by Rowdydfw at 12:17 PM : Dec 02, 2008
Yep. Not to mention 5 years later, he''s been vindicated as there were/are no WMD to be found!
Did you see where Rick Warren of Saddleback, gave him the "International Medal of Peace" yesterday?
Posted by IwasHungry68 at 12:23 PM : Dec 02, 2008
Although the reason he''s getting the award is because of a very Christian-like thing to do, conservatives would be screaming ''socialism'' at the top of their lungs if a Democratic leader got the award for the same reason...very hypocritical.
I do take issue with one of the tenents for the award being the alleviation of self-centered government though.
Posted by CBSNews53 at 12:28 PM : Dec 02, 2008
That would mean going through withdrawals.
Posted by TheMasses10 at 12:23 PM : Dec 02, 2008
WMD''s, little green men, Earth is flat...hey, if that''s what you want to believe, I''m not stopping you. I can, however, point and laugh.
He didn''''t get enough pledged delegates to win, did he?
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Posted by Rowdydfw at 12:24 PM : Dec 02, 2008
Niether did Hillary. What''s your point? He got more pledged delegates than her and enough superdelegates to put him over the magic number. This is so six months ago. She conceded, he won and won again. He''s president-elect, she''ll be Secretary of State.
Get over it already.
More Repubicans would love to see differences, since it would be their way into divisive intrusions, but Joe Biden can clearly keep such opportunities from ever occurring.
This CBS news editorial is wishful and biased. It makes a house of cards appear like a real one to a novice political follower.
Pardon me while I bust a lung laughing....
Posted by Rowdydfw at 12:37 PM : Dec 02, 2008
Well if you know something the rest of the world doesn''t, please feel free to build the yellow brick road to the WMD''s.
There are none.
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Posted by Rowdydfw at 12:42 PM : Dec 02, 2008
I hope to give you some change in the form of a nickel.
Take that nickel and invest it in your Search for WMD fund. Now go away kid, ya bother me.
Thanks RowdyDFW LOL !
You fell for it Hook, Line and Sinker.
Just shows how easy it is to get a Raaction from you RowdyDFW or might it be Mudrose ?
Posted by TheMasses10 at 12:48 PM : Dec 02, 2008
Except I''ve got evidence in the form of ''still haven''t found anything'' on my side. I mean, five years of unfettered access to search for them is pretty compelling.
What do YOU have in the way of supporting your apparent contention of WMD existing in Iraq?
Posted by Rowdydfw at 12:51 PM : Dec 02, 2008
So why do you continue to bother going on about the truthiness of those oh so compelling WMD arguments for waging war in the first place?
You cant justify the war in IRAQ because everybody knows that Bush and Cheney Lied and Cherry Picked the Info they had and released what they had to Congress and got us into the way. Cheney was on CNN and insisted that there were WMD''s with Sattelite Photos which turned out was a lie !
Of course, a clearer statement, after her lackluster campaign, is that she has no real SUCCESSFUL experience. But, BO is bound to be able to help her with that, perhaps even directly.
This is about the DUMBEST thing i''ve seen here in a long time. But whattheheck, even the rightwing water carriers have butchered this bigoted phony terminology from it''s beginning.
Isn''t that funny, neither does Obama.
Among other things, his campaign won the election for POTUS.
Did you read the article? Keep up...
...and the only prescription is...more cowbell.
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Posted by fahr451
Post ''''O The Day! Cigars all around!
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Posted by TheMasses10 at 03:21 PM : Dec 02, 2008
+ report abuse
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if liberals knows that they are doing..africa would had been a superpower by now.
I was thinking that, too. But rowdy had a dumber one earlier:
"ISLAMOFAST...A person who holds fast to the Islamic faith..."
Posted by nolalou
She is a complete dingdong. She likes the word commie because she can spell it, but she has no idea what it means.
Posted by CBSNews53 at 03:26 PM : Dec 02, 2008
...second the motion.
Posted by hatesthecolt at 03:35 PM : Dec 02, 2008
Don''t forget her constant pejorative references to everyone of the Islamic faith.
Posted by cntrymuzksux
Good point! Also, the consistent use of other racist terms and codewords.
Posted by skip1937 at 03:40 PM : Dec 02, 2008
You forgot to mention that he''s muslim. At least a bunch of people still believe that fairy tale too.
Posted by TheMasses10
Oh she''s here. She just doesn''t respond to cogent posts. she''s waiting for something she can understand before she jumps in.
Yet, she lives on through your postings of her, even when she''''s not here. Basically, you are beating up on a girl who is not even present. I think all of you admire her .......... want her even ..................
Posted by TheMasses10 at 03:48 PM : Dec 02, 2008
You could have stumbled onto something there TheMasses.
You have to give her her credit though,.........she''s never at a lose for words.
Posted by TheMasses10 at 03:48 PM : Dec 02, 2008
I actually get on well with Rowdy. I just happen to disagree with her on most issues. I refrain from insulting her unless calling her out can be construed by you as insulting.
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