Hurray for Hillary

Posted by Robert Zimmer on 12.01.2008

Obama's selection of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State should, finally, silence her and her husband's nattering critics.

As expected, President-elect Obama today nominated his former rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton, to be his Secretary of State. We can only hope that the endless, corrosive gossip about Clinton's – and her husband's – true motivations will now settle down.

What is deeply frustrating about modern politics is the cynicism that is so deeply ingrained in both seasoned political observers and many voters. So many lousy politicians are floating around Washington, bathed in the sleaze of their own ambition, that the concerns of those whom they are tasked to represent take a back seat. However, many political figures are honest, well-intended public servants with a deep desire to effect good. I believe Hillary Clinton falls into the latter category.

The chief of staff to a former senator and presidential candidate once broke down politicians to me as follows: he said that roughly one-third of the people in Washington are there because their hearts are in the right place and they have gone to serve the people; unfortunately, one-third are there because they simply crave the power, influence, and eventual money to be made. The other third, according to this former chief of staff, are a mixture of the two categories. There is no doubt the Clintons are ambitious people and there is no doubt they are both capable politicians. However, contrary to the fetishistic obsessions of Clinton-haters, who view the couple as little more than venal, self-absorbed thugs with Secret Service protection, the Clintons have contributed hugely to the betterment of humanity both at home and abroad. Obama, to his credit, has called upon them to apply their talents in his administration, because Obama is clear-eyed about the successes and skills of both Clintons, not just their liabilities.

The abject, across-the-board failure of the Bush administration has cemented for history just how impressive the Clinton presidency was. While the ethical lapses of the Lewinsky matter can never be excused, they seem hollow and insignificant in comparison to the Bush administration's trampling of the Constitution and outright dereliction of duty. When we ponder the horrific list of problems facing our nation, any one of which would be daunting on its own, it is difficult to avoid warm, nostalgic recollections of the 1990s, an era of such overall peace and prosperity that a nation's greatest concern was a politician's infidelity. Hillary Clinton was hardly a potted plant during her husband's administration; she had a portfolio of responsibilities – some self-created, some not – which both expanded our notion of what a First Lady's role should be, and confirmed what most married women already know – which is that wives tend to be a full partner with their husbands in all the key endeavors that a married couple undertakes. Yes, both Hillary Clinton and her husband made mistakes during his presidency, but these errors came mostly from a genuine effort to bring about change – big change -- just as Barack Obama intends to make. Many of the things Franklin Roosevelt tried in his effort to whip the Great Depression were failures. I would rather have a president – or a secretary of state – who failed at shooting for the big goals rather than someone who never made a mistake because he – or she – never even tried.

We live in alarming, serious times, which require egos large enough to believe these serious times can be overcome. This is why public servants with ambition do not bother me, as long as those ambitions always take a back seat to the call to serve in times of peril, even if that means setting aside presidential ambitions or giving up a Senate seat. Accepting Obama's offer to become Secretary of State probably means Hillary Clinton will never again run for president. It also means President Clinton's extraordinary global charity work, under the Clinton Foundation, will now be somewhat restricted (and was subject to a thorough vetting that went beyond the requirements of law). Yet the Clintons accepted both fates because whatever their personal ambitions are, their desire to serve our country – and indeed, the world – is greater. Prognosticators, pundits, and haters from both the left and right will always invent a new layer of conspiracy or machination to explain the Clintons' actions. What they never seem to be able to do is entertain the possibility that the Clintons have set aside or circumscribed their personal ambitions because the times require it, and that they are willing to give back to the country that has given them so much.

The co-partners and architects of a wonderful, albeit sometimes messy eight years of peace and prosperity have been asked to step up and give of themselves, not in an act of nostalgia for the 1990s, but in recognition that their deep commitment to public service is desperately needed in 2009. They have agreed to do so, to the irritation of their detractors. This selflessness, if nothing else, should silence those who cannot seem to accept that the Clintons have altruism in their DNA. I believe that Hillary Clinton will be a great asset to Obama as his chief diplomat, as will her husband in his own right.