Clinton meets 2 of 4 criteria for effective SOS??

Posted By P.J. Aroon Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - 4:47 PM Share

Politico has a piece by Aaron David Millier -- advisor to six U.S. secretaries of state -- in which he states, "I'm not sure whether to offer [Secretary Clinton] congratulations or condolences."

He outlines four criteria that make for an effective secretary of state (SOS):

Having a "formidable physical and intellectual persona"
Being "tough and at times devious"
Having a "negotiator's mind-set"
Having the "president's ear" and maintaining a close relationship with him

Miller states that Clinton meets the first two criteria, but says that things get "problematic" with the latter two.

Criteria 4 has been debated ad nauseum. Plenty of people, including Henry Kissinger, have said that Clinton and President Obama have a harmonious working relationship.

Regarding criteria 3, it's probably too early to tell. There haven't been any major diplomatic breakthroughs in Clinton's first six months on the job, but who knows that the situation will be a year, or two, or three, from now. Clinton aims to "reset" relations with Russia, even working on a commission with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. This very second she's at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. As for Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan, those messy issues can't easily be solved with a treaty or high-level summit.

Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

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STACYX

11:37 PM ET

July 28, 2009

You know, last week I emailed

You know, last week I emailed someone and noted that in most of the articles or commentary purporting to claim that Secretary Clinton has diminished power, visibility etc., Aaron David Miller's opinion figures prominently in most of them (at least the ones that bother to actually have a named source). Coincidence? It's almost as though he's using his professional credibility/resume to try to promote the idea, albeit in a rather passive-aggressive way, that only a little over six months into her tenure as SOS, Hillary Clinton should just pack it in and call it a day.

And here's my question- what is Aaron David Miller's agenda here? I think that's WONDERFUL that he's been an adviser to 6 past secretaries of state but unless he has some real insider knowledge of the inner workings of Hillary Clinton's shop over at State, what's he basing all this on?

I think this is still utter nonsense. Really.

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ANNE

4:41 AM ET

July 29, 2009

Looking gorgeous, as usual.

Looking gorgeous, as usual. And she's doing a spectacular job.

ANNE

1:29 PM ET

July 29, 2009

As far as #4, Obama is a

As far as #4, Obama is a narcissist who follows the advice of the seriously shady or hateful (Alexrod, Rahm, wright, etc), so she has his ear as much as any non-evil, non-freaky, intelligent person *could*.

CAROLYN-RODHAM

2:19 PM ET

July 29, 2009

Um, Mr. Miller...?

Re: Hillary having a negotiator's mind-set, whatever YOU mean by that, I'd say the diplomacy and grace she mustered after the primary season -- burying her disappointment, not to say anger, at being robbed of the nomination -- to support her party's appointed nominee, and her willingness to serve in Obama's cabinet, not to mention take every opportunity to support him publically, is evidence enough of a "negotiator's mind-set."

Re: having the President's ear, I'd say being given the green light to spend an hour on Meet the Press is evidence enough that the boys over at the White House decided something had to be done to dispel the notion that Hillary was being kept hidden and muzzled under a burqa. She performed brilliantly -- or didn't you think so, Mr. Miller? Just watch her soar in the next year, then get back to us on that.

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