Would Barack Obama really appoint Hillary Clinton Secretary of State? (Wizbang)

If we study history, only two elected officials have been Secretary of State(SOS) over the last 60 years. Of those two, only one held office at the time of his appointment. There was a third SOS who was appointed Senator to fill a vacancy and only was in office for 4 months. He was never elected to office. There have been as many retired Army Generals to hold the position as there have been politicians. The most common occupation on all these men and two women's resume before their becoming SOS, has been work as a lawyer. Lets review who has been SOS. *- Former politician

George Marshall- Former Army Chief of Staff 1947-49
Dean Acheson- Lawyer. Held appointed positions in FDR and Truman administrations 49-53
*- John Foster Dulles- Former US Senator(for 4 months), Diplomat, Lawyer 53-59
*- Christian Herter- Former Governor of Massachusetts, former Congressman 59-61
Dean Rusk- Lawyer. Worked in the Truman administration 61-69
William Rogers- Former US Attorney General 69-73
Henry Kissinger- Nat. Security Advisor, Academic 73-77
Cyrus Vance- Lawyer, Former Sec. of the Army 77-80
*-Edmund Muskie- Senator from Maine 80-81
Alexander Haig- Army General 81-82
George Shultz- Academic, former Sec. of Labor and former AG 82-89
James Baker- Lawyer and former Sec. of Treasury 89-92
Lawrence Eagleburger- Career Diplomat 92-93
Warren Christopher- Lawyer, former Dep. AG and Dep SOS 93-97
Madeline Albright- Academic, former Nat. Security staffer 97-01
Colin Powell- Former Army Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor 01-05
Condoleezza Rice- Academic, National Security Advisor 05-present

No former elected politician has been SOS since the Carter administration. Talking about the appointment of a high profile politician to be secretary of state is more interesting than speculating about what lawyer or academic will get the post. How many former White House national security staffers can the average person name? I can name a few, and even know two.

I don't think Obama will choose Hillary.

Update- Cancer or no cancer, I do have a pretty good memory. I could name all former SOS since 1947 with the exception of Herter and Eagleburger. With about half of, I knew their backgrounds before becoming Secretary of State.

Comments (6)

I agree with the end result... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by GarandFan | November 16, 2008 4:57 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

GarandFan:

I agree with the end result, but not that Obama won't choose her; she won't choose him. Bet she's still banking that his administration will veer sharp left and suffer the repercussions come '12. The party will be forced to pick a new standard bearer and she wouldn't want to appear with any taint from The Chosen One's administration.

Also, becoming SOS, she's just his mouthpiece. She does the work, he gets the credit. Clinton's don't work like that. She'd wield more power in her current position as Senator. And be ripe for '12.

Posted on November 16, 2008 16:57

It will be either her or Bi... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by LaMedusa | November 16, 2008 7:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

LaMedusa:

It will be either her or Bill Richardson.

Posted on November 16, 2008 19:21

The only reason he brought ... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by Captain America | November 16, 2008 9:22 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Captain America:

The only reason he brought Hillary to Chicago was to stop Gov. Palin from getting all the media attention.

Palin had a big media week with Greta, Lauer, Blitzer and Larry King. Plus, she had the media's attention while at the RGA.

It is more than coincidential that Obama brought a woman to Chicago who would grab the media's attention back.

Posted on November 16, 2008 21:22

It will be fun to watch the... (Below threshold)

4. Posted by MPR | November 17, 2008 12:01 AM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)

MPR:

It will be fun to watch the wackos go nuts over her appointment. She never apologized for voting for the war. And she is more hawkish than Obambi.
Bill is probably hoping she will be globe trotting so he can do his globe trotting. Trotting in different parts of the globe that is.

Posted on November 17, 2008 00:01

I AGREE THAT THE MEETING WI... (Below threshold)

5. Posted by ann | November 18, 2008 9:29 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

ann:

I AGREE THAT THE MEETING WITH HILARY WAS ONLY TO REGAIN ATTENTION. BUT SARAH IS STILL THE MAIN ATTRACTION.

I SEE HER AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT 4 SURE!!!!!! AND SHE WON'T HAVE TO "CHANGE" HER NAME TO WIN!!!!

Posted on November 18, 2008 09:29

if Hillary becomes the Sec.... (Below threshold)

6. Posted by movie fan | November 20, 2008 1:04 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

movie fan:

if Hillary becomes the Sec. State, hopefully she will not be excessively distracted by outside drama or personal career plans, etc.

Posted on November 20, 2008 13:04