Hillary Clinton for State?

Last March, after surviving the gauntlet of "Super Tuesday" primaries on February 5 against Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama was in the middle of running off eleven consecutive primary and caucus wins. The lead he amassed that month was his margin of victory; Clinton thereafter was never able to close the gap.

One of the little-noticed things Obama did that month in the midst of a frenetic schedule of appearances was to place a call to an author. Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, had written an acclaimed book about the sixteenth president. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln had received the Lincoln Award as the best book about the Civil War in 2005. Obama had read the book and wanted to garner a few further insights about how Lincoln managed his Cabinet, a Cabinet he had stocked with practically every one of the members of his party who had contested him for the nomination.

Obama's inquiry was not idle chatter. He has already tapped one primary season rival, Joe Biden, for the vice presidency. Reports are now rampant that the job of Secretary of State is Senator Clinton's to accept or turn down. Obama is said to have offered her the post when the two met in Chicago. I believe the reports. The Obama campaign up to now has maintained nearly unprecedented message discipline and no one is denying the reports. Just today former President Bill Clinton said his wife "would make a great Secretary of State."

I tend to concur. She is brilliant. She knows foreign and defense policy backward and forward. She knows and has personal relationships with the world's heads of state and government. Her profile is the highest possible, lending the utmost weight and credibility to her diplomacy with global leaders and efforts to assuage the intricacies of the world's trouble spots. Imagine a visit to Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia or even North Korea with Hillary Clinton as diplomat in chief. The effect would be electrifying, several orders of magnitude past what would be generated by John Kerry or Bill Richardson. She has a heart but can also famously be as tough as nails. It is easy to picture her as an altogether formidable chief of American foreign policy.

The potential drawbacks are apparent. Might she undermine the president or prove to be an unmanageable subordinate? Are there more Clinton skeletons in the closet that vetting might turn up, particularly with respect to husband Bill's international foundation and its sources of financial support? And speaking of Bill, might he wind up underfoot, in the way, at odds with and a distraction for Obama and his Administration in general?

The answer, of course is that such problems are certainly possible. Given the competence of the Obama operation so far, however, I am inclined to believe they have been anticipated. Obama seems to want strong people around him. His style is to encourage open debate. Then, when he makes a decision, it is final. His approach will be like Lincoln's-to tie the fates of himself and his erstwhile rivals together so that his success is their success and vice versa.

In a remarkable parallel Lincoln tapped New York Senator William Henry Seward, who had been strongly favored to win the Republican nomination in 1860, for his own Secretary of State. Seward began with the apparent idea that he would be the real power of the Lincoln Administration over the thinly-experienced man from Illinois, but before long he considered Lincoln his best friend and he was among the president's firmest supporters. I too have read Goodwin's book and am sure Obama is mining it for insights into leading such a prominent group and maintaining authority. One trait Obama certainly has no shortage of is self-confidence.

For her part, Clinton is, for all her fame, a relatively junior senator. The landmark legislation coming out of Congress under this administration will, for the most part, have the names of long-serving senators such as Dodd, Leahy, Kennedy, Levin, Boxer, and yes, probably McCain attached to it. State presents Clinton with the opportunity to achieve some transcendent objectives, far beyond what she is likely to have under her name in the senate anytime soon.

Consider the kinds of issues the next Secretary of State will tackle. An Israeli-Palestinian settlement, for instance. The successor to the Kyoto climate change treaty. A truly effective global working arrangement on terror. Fixing the horrible African mess. Splitting Syria from Iran. Putting Afghanistan back together. And Iraq. Nuclear proliferation, particularly with respect to Iran and North Korea. Finding the appropriate ongoing relationship with Russia. Encouraging constructive development and evolution in the Islamic world so as to promote justice and drain the swamp that engenders extremism.

Hillary Clinton as Senator has earned high marks for doing her homework, learning the ropes, working across party lines where possible and letting the more senior members enjoy the lion's share of credit when credit is due. I have a hunch that if she becomes Secretary of State she will be a better subordinate than many expect. We will have to wait and see what happens, but keep in mind the Obama team has had a transition operation in place already for at least three months now. Watch what unfolds. Unless I miss my guess, what we are about see leading up to the Inauguration and in the weeks immediately following will be like nothing Americans have witnessed before, except among the very elderly. Fasten your seat belt and get ready to be amazed.