On Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Boot Camps

Sometimes, the best things will come only after some patience, and letting ego dissipate. I read a response on Quora on the benefits of Hillary accepting Obama’s request to be Secretary of State. Now I cannot remember to author, but it went like this — Appointing her to secretary of state was an extremely astute move. It was really very masterful. After the 2008 nomination, a substantial minority of the Democratic party was loyal to Clinton, not Obama. Leaving her off the presidential ticket allowed him to more effectively consolidate the party behind him. Nominating her to secretary of state put her in a travel-focused role that kept her out of Washington and gave her no room to maneuver for a bid against him in 2012. He protected his own interests.

At the same time, Clinton genuinely lacked foreign policy experience. Some of her missteps in her first year as SecState were pretty embarrassing. The job gave her a real chance to develop expertise on topics that a future president needs to know and build relationships with foreign heads of state. Moreover, by including her in his inner circle, Obama kept her involved in the biggest events of his administration and raised her stature above that of a mere senator. SecState wasn’t exile — it was boot camp.

Obama turned a serious rival for control of the Democratic party into one of his staunchest allies and helped her gain experience and stature, all without risking his own job security. This was brilliant politics, and was characteristic of the kind of positive-sum outcomes he has always sought in his best moments.