By 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.
8:48 am on November 16th, 2008 1
What I see are a whole lot of people who have ONLY worried about their own careers & have NOT had the best interest of the US in mind while serving in this post.
Kind of answers questions as to why the DoS is so screwed up…
1:31 pm on November 16th, 2008 2
Hillary should not take the position. Besides that I agree with Gerry on this one, it's a serious gamble for her. If Obama is an unpopular President or public opinion turns on her and she's replaced, it would be the end of her political career. I like Richardson, but would much rather see him in another position. I've also heard Kerry's name being floated around as well.
As always, I'm hoping for Clark, but have not heard his name being talked about at all.
7:15 pm on November 16th, 2008 3
I believe Bill Richardson was also under consideration. Having seen some of Hillorys previous leanings on foreign relations and her inexperience I would go for Richardson.
10:35 pm on November 16th, 2008 4
I don't think BO trust the Clintons (who does) and will not give her anything that may get in his way of reelection. Powell is sucking up and may be trying to get his old job back – big mistake if that happened.
9:31 am on November 17th, 2008 5
I would believe that having Hilliary as SoS is a great thing for Obama. He gets rid of her and makes a 2012 chance for her to run for President very difficult. Find a place for Bill somewhere in the world and make him stay there, keeps his butt out of the way. Hilliary gets a choice spot in the administration and Obama effectively takes care of his former opponet.
Besides, I could not stand "Lurch" (Kerry) as SoS.
12:04 pm on November 17th, 2008 6
That would be "Guardian" and here's the link:
Hillary Clinton to accept Obama's offer of secretary of state job
5:55 pm on November 17th, 2008 7
She doesn’t have a 2012 chance unless Obama bombs which probably won’t happen. It would only get rid of her if she does a bad job. If she gets the nod and does well, you can start preparing for a 2016 run and probable victory. As much as people love to hate the Clintons, there is some deep and fierce loyalty to that family.
I, however, do not share in that loyalty.
7:00 pm on November 17th, 2008 8
Well, The Gaurdian is reporting that Hillary will accept the position.
Let’s the onslaught begin…