Secretary Of State? What Was Hillary Thinking?

Back in January, Politico wrote:

For all the talk of his “Team of Rivals” pick in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama last week handed the two hottest hotspots in American foreign policy to presidential envoys – one to former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, and the other to a man who knows his way around Foggy Bottom better than Clinton does, Richard Holbrooke.

At the time, in Has Obama Pulled Another End-Around On Hillary?, I wrote:

Apparently all of that talk about whether Clinton would be furthering her political goals or not by taking the post of Secretary of State is now somewhat moot.

More of concern to Israel's supporters who saw Clinton's appointment as a majore plus--you will have to deal George Mitchell now, who has been touted as even-handed, but not by everyone.

The game has changed--Maybe Biden knew what he was doing when he turned down the job of Secretary of State to be Vice President.

Now in Hillary’s incredible, shrinking role, Dick Morris is writing about this too, noticing the 'competition' that Hillary now faces:

• Vice President Biden has moved vigorously to stake out foreign policy as his turf. His visit to Afghanistan, right before the Inauguration, could not but send a signal to Hillary that he would conduct foreign policy in the new administration, leaving Hillary in the role of backup.
• Richard Holbrooke, the former Balkan negotiator and U.N. ambassador, has been named special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He insisted on direct access to the president, a privilege he was denied during much of the Clinton years.

• Former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine), negotiator of the Irish Peace Accords, was appointed to be the administration’s point man on Arab-Israeli negotiations.

• Samantha Power, Obama’s former campaign aide, who once called Hillary a “monster,” has been appointed to the National Security Council (NSC) as director of “multilateral affairs.”

• Gen. James L. Jones, Obama’s new national security adviser, has announced an expansion of the membership and role of the NSC. He pledges to eliminate “back channels” to the president and wants to grow the NSC’s role to accommodate the “dramatically different” challenges of the current world situation.

• Susan Rice, Obama’s new United Nations ambassador, insisted upon and got Cabinet rank for her portfolio, and she will presumably also have the same kind of access to Obama that she had as his chief foreign policy adviser during the campaign.

Nor is this the first time that a Secretary of State has found that the position does not automatically carry with it the power and prestige normally associated with it:

The fact is that the power of the secretary of State is not statutory, nor does it flow from the prestige of the post’s occupant. Former Gen. Al Haig, once supreme commander of NATO and chief of staff to President Nixon, found that out when he was undercut as secretary by the White House troika of Mike Deaver, James Baker and Ed Meese. Bill Rogers, Eisenhower’s attorney general and Nixon’s California confidant, found himself on the outs from the moment he became secretary of State, with Henry Kissinger soaking up all the power through his direct access to Nixon as national security adviser.

The power of the secretary of State flows directly from the president. But Hillary does not have the inside track with Obama.

In the end, just what is left for Hillary Clinton to do in the Obama Administration, after having given up her Senate seat? That is one question. The other question is: just what was Hillary expecting her job to be when she gave up her seat?

More on this story at Memeorandum

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