Who's really in charge? Hillary Clinton vs. Susan Rice

Hillary Clinton's appointment to the office of Secretary of State has received a lot of attention for two reasons. First, Obama' selection of Hillary supposedly evoked the "team of rivals" strategy that Lincoln took in assembling his cabinet (although Lincoln's machinations in this regard have been completely over-hyped, a subject we need not revisit here). Second, the appointment of the relatively hawkish Hillary has been cited as further evidence of Obama's screwing over of the lefties who helped get him elected.

Another aspect of the appointment that deserves comment is the prospective role of Dr. Susan Rice in implementing the new administration's foreign policy. The president-elect has designated Rice to serve as U.N. Ambassador and has elevated that position to cabinet-level rank.

I'm frankly surprised that Hillary went along with the move to elevate the U.N. Ambassador to cabinet-level rank. What that move essentially means is that, while Hillary will be the nation's chief diplomat, and thus the putative architect of U.S. foreign policy, she will not be in charge of our diplomatic mission to the U.N. Where's the logic in that beyond Obama's apparent desire to toss a face-saving bone to Dr. Rice?

From a management standpoint, the idea of having the U.N. Ambassador report directly to the POTUS rather than the Secretary of State seems badly misguided. The only mitigating factors I see are the fact that there is precedent for the move from as recently as the Clinton Administration and the fact that Secretary of State is considered the highest-ranking post in the cabinet (although this is only formally true for purposes of presidential succession and protocol). Perhaps Hillary figured her status as Secretary of State would speak for itself, notwithstanding Obama's efforts to placate Dr. Rice and her supporters.

It may be of little practical consequence, but something about this decision just doesn't sit well with me. It strikes me as the personnel equivalent of voting "present." If Obama wanted Hillary in charge of foreign policy, he should have given her the whole thing, and not carved out a piece of it for the person many people thought he should have picked instead of Hillary. Let's hope he's not being too clever for his own good.

Obama's "Team of Rivals"?

Apparently some people are treating Obama's reported interest in Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State as an act of political genius similar to Lincoln's deft assembly of a "Team of Rivals" to comprise his cabinet. I think this meme gives much too much credit to both Lincoln and Obama.

Lincoln didn't exactly invent the idea of naming strong leaders from a president's own party to cabinet positions. And few if any members of Lincoln's cabinet needed his close supervision to deter them from conspiring to unseat him. Seward was disappointed at losing the nomination in 1860 but had no difficulty accepting Lincoln as his party's leader. Stanton may have been a Lincoln skeptic, but he was wasn't even a candidate in '60, let alone a political force Lincoln needed to worry about. Edward Bates clearly lacked the ambition to intrigue against Lincoln. If memory serves, he could barely be troubled to move to Washington to join the cabinet. In fact, the only cabinet official deserving of a short leash was Salmon Chase, and it's far from clear that Lincoln spared himself any heartache by putting him at Treasury.

As for Obama and Hillary, for reasons discussed in my previous post, appointing her as Secretary of State does virtually nothing to neutralize her as a potential rival. Obama's energies should be focused on performing well as president, not worrying about what Hillary does.

Hillary for Secretary of State?

I'm not sure how seriously to take this, but the name Hillary Rodham Clinton is being floated as a possible Secretary of State in the Obama Administration.

I don't think Hillary would necessarily be a disaster in this role, but it's not a pick that would inspire confidence.

First, her singular focus in the public arena has been on domestic policy. Assuming it would take a top-level cabinet post to entice her to leave the Senate, she would be best suited for Attorney General.

Apart from her lack of expertise in foreign policy, Hillary seems ill fit for Foggy Bottom for reasons of personality and temperament. If the last 16 years have taught us anything about Hillary, it's that she's a fighter, rather than a diplomat, a hard-nosed tactician rather than a grand strategist. It's hard to imagine her thriving in the genteel, nuanced world of international diplomacy.

So if this pick isn't motivated by the desire to find the best person to lead America's diplomatic corps, what is it about?

From Obama's perspective, there may be a couple of reasons why picking Hillary for State reasons may seem like a good idea. For one, it advances his goal of assembling an "all star" cabinet. As I've written before, however, I think a cabinet of "all-stars" needlessly raises expectations he will be hard-pressed to fulfill.

Another motive for Obama to pick Hillary may be to neutralize her as a potential rival in 2012. If that's his rational, however, it is incredibly craven. Surely, if Obama could outwit Hillary for the nomination when he was just an untested freshman senator, he would have no difficulty staving off an intra-party challenge from her as the incumbent president. If Obama is that worried about Hillary in 2012, he should do whatever he can to have a successful first term, including getting the best Secretary of State he can find.

Possibly, Obama's real worry in regard to Hillary is not that she will try to unseat him in 2012, but that she'll undermine his administration in other ways. In that case, he might imagine that involving Hillary in the arcane machinations of foreign affairs will prevent her from engaging in acts of domestic political sabotage. But of course it wouldn't. If anything, the State Department would provide Hillary with plausible cover to engage in whatever nefarious intrigues she could devise.

Truthfully, I can't think of any good reason Obama would want Hillary as Secretary of State.

From Hillary's perspective, it's possible she would envision a stint as Secretary of State as something that would enhance her future presidential prospects. Undoubtedly, it would, assuming she didn't make a botch of it. As a practical matter, however, she probably doesn't need to punch up her resume in order to get back into presidential contention.

The best reason I can think of Hillary to accept this appointment is ambivalence about Obama's prospects for a successful first term. The Secretary of State tends to operate semi-autonomously and, of course, within an area of responsibility many voters studiously ignore. If Obama stumbles badly in the Oval Office, and particularly if the country is mired in deep economic troubles, a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would likely avoid any responsibility for the mess. Even as senator her reputation would be at risk, since she would presumably have to support Obama's domestic agenda. The State Department offers Hillary the best of all worlds: a powerful, high-visibility position in the new administration, further enhancement of her presidential qualifications, and insurance against the risk that Obama will fall flat on his face.