Obama win doesn't change Hillary Clinton plans to step down
**FILE** Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks Nov. 1, 2012, to the ... more>
Follow Us On
Facebook
Question of the Day
Did you vote yesterday?
The State Department on Wednesday said Tuesdays election results dont change Secretary of State Hillary Clintons plans to step down.
Youve heard her say many times that she intends to see through a transition of a successor and then she will go back to private life and enjoy some some rest, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Mrs. Nuland said the news media may have misread recent remarks in which Mrs. Clinton suggested she might stay in the post longer.
What she was talking about was that she would ensure that the transition to her successor happens! smoothly! , and I think thats still her intention, Mrs. Nuland said.
The challenge of replacing Mrs. Clinton, who enjoys a relatively high rate of popularity among foreign dignitaries and populations, is likely to prove among the most difficult facing the Obama administration as it gears up for the second term.
Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been among those mentioned as a candidate.
While Tuesdays election results bolstered the Democratic majority in the Senate, it remains to be seen whether the party would accept a move by Mr. Kerry to the State Department, since doing so would open his Senate seat to a shock-election Republican challenge.
Susan Rice, the current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations has also been mentioned. Mrs. Rice, however, faced a rash of criticism from Republicans over statements she made following the Sept. 11 killing of American Ambassador J. Christopher Stephens in Libya.
Copyright 2012 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.