Vetting Hillary Clinton
Will Bill Clinton's baggage keep Barack Obama from picking Hillary to be secretary of state?
There's a major obstacle to Hillary Clinton's appointment as Barack Obama's secretary of state, said Peter Baker and Helene Cooper in The New York Times: Bill Clinton. Looking into the donors to the former president's charitable foundation, at home and abroad, and coming up with ways to head off any possible conflicts of interest could prove the most difficult part of vetting Sen. Clinton for a spot in the president-elect's cabinet.
The unprecedented "public-private partnership" that the Clintons would represent, said Michael Shear and Philip Rucker in The Washington Post, could benefit the new president, but at a price. "He would be investing his fortunes not only with his former rival for the presidency but also in an outsize figure on the global scene who has been conducting a kind of privately financed foreign policy all his own since leaving office."
"Barack is playing with fire," said Marty Peretz in The New Republic online. Giving Hillary the top foreign policy position in his administration would help her pile up credentials for her next presidential run, and it would give Bill what he wants, which is to be "where the action is." But it would reverse what most Americans wanted from Obama in the first place, "and this was to end the Clinton dominion in American politics."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Nuclear near-misses
The Explainer From technical glitches to fateful split-second decisions, the world has come to the brink of nuclear war more times than you might think
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published