Barack Obama thanks Hillary Clinton for work as Secretary of State

[FleetwoodMac]

Source: The Telegraph

In a preview of their CBS 60 Minutes interview to be aired on Sunday, US President Barack Obama publicly thanks the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she prepares to step down from the role. Bitter rivals in the 2008 presidential campaign, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kept smiling at each other in a joint interview to CBS that Mrs Clinton said would have seemed "improbable" years ago.

"It has been a great collaboration over the last four years. I'm going to miss her," Mr Obama said in a televised excerpt from the CBS 60 Minutes programme that will air on Sunday...

... "I just wanted to have a chance to publicly say thank you, because I think Hillary will go down as one of the finest secretaries of state we've had," Mr Obama said in an excerpt shown on CBS ahead of Sunday's 60 Minutes.

"It has been a great collaboration over the last four years. I'm going to miss her," he added.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9828487/Barack-Obama-thanks-Hillary-Clinton-for-work-as-Secretary-of-State.html

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I too think Hillary will go down as one of the finest SecState the country ever had

[graham4anything]

1. I salute both President Obama for his foresight and Hillary45 for being the #1 SOS ever

and it will be decades and decades or more, for anyone to come close to being as great a SOS as Hillary45 was.

May she win the Noble Peace Prize next year on her way to becoming the 45th President of the United States.

[onehandle]

2. She never ignored explicit warnings of Osama Bin Laden planning to attack America.

That puts her leaps and bounds above some.

[JohnnyLib2]

3. Good to hear, and what perfect timing for this.

[sellitman]

4. He might have to choose between Her & Joe in 2016

That will be an interesting Primary. Any guesses on who he would support in the beginning? Remember Bill has also worked tirelessly for him too. I suspect he might try to stay away from an early recommendation but how does he not back his VP?

[FleetwoodMac]

8. If it comes to that, I think the President will hold off an endorsement until...

a clear winner emerges in the primaries.

But you're right. It would be difficult for the President to not endorse Mr. Biden.

[Beacool]

13. I like Joe a lot.

But the main person fanning the Joe for president flames is Joe himself. In every poll he comes a very distant second. I have no clue whether Hillary will change her mind and choose to run in 2016, but either way, I sincerely doubt that the party will nominate a 74 year old white guy.

[antigop]

17. or maybe the party will nominate someone younger than them nt

[TwilightGardener]

5. I find this joint interview strange. There doesn't seem to be a good reason for it.

He didn't do this with any other cabinet member--and he really owed Bob Gates a lot for agreeing to stay on two more years, and winding down Iraq, and getting DADT repeal most of the way through the DoD. Of course, it would look even stranger if he sat down with a male cabinet member for a joint love-fest. I dunno...

[Coyotl]

6. It makes sense politically given the recent hearings.

Obama is demonstrating support for his team, and rightly so given the performance they give the nation. The main cabinet post deserves the attention level.

[TwilightGardener]

7. I'm not terribly impressed by her performance. I know that's apostasy on DU, but there it is.

I think she was OK. I also think John Kerry has a lot of messes and fires to clean up and put out. And again, imagine if he was doing this joint interview with anyone else--would seem very strange.

[Coyotl]

9. I would not characterize it as performance, of course.

But then, I'm no Dem basher.

[TwilightGardener]

11. Yeah, I'm not a Dem basher either.

[Evergreen Emerald]

10. what messes and fires, caused by Clinton does he need to fix?

[TwilightGardener]

12. Mali/Africa, North Korea, Libya aftermath, Afghanistan, India/Pakistan--

Last edited Sat Jan 26, 2013, 02:43 PM - Edit history (1)

Israel and Palestine, Egypt ratcheting up anti-semitic rhetoric....I don't know how much Clinton caused (well, she did advocate for action in Libya and the Afghan troop surge), but I don't know what she solved, either. She traveled a lot, that seems to be the main criteria for judging her. On edit--forgot to mention China and Japan threatening each other, Iran and Syria...glad Kerry is on deck.

[Politicub]

21. Clinton caused the Egyptian uprising? Are you kidding me?

I know you don't like her but you're grasping at straws.

[TwilightGardener]

22. Huhn? I never said she "caused" anything. I said I thought she was "OK" as SoS.

Mixed record. The jury is still out. That said, things don't seem to be going well internationally, on a number of fronts. That is mostly Obama, because he is the President. He can't stop attending to domestic issues, but he also needs to have a more cohesive and proactive foreign policy for the next 4 years (NOT military intervention necessarily, though). I am not sure how effective the State Dept. has been for him, overall. Edit to add: I don't dislike Hillary Clinton. I am also not a big fan.

[fujiyama]

23. How the hell do many of those conflicts have anything to do with her tenure as SoS?

Even the stupid hand wringing right wingers could only attack her over over Libya, though they tried to claim Huma was a mole for the Muslim Brotherhood. The administration has done about as well a job as possible in dealing with the unexpected crises that have sprung up around the world (and I say this as someone not convinced our actions in Libya were particularly justified). As for Afghanistan, I am somewhat in agreement - the surge has not proven to be as effective as hoped. Biden was proven right on that regard. And we all saw that Petreus was a hack and a media darling that fell on his own hubris.

The rest of the issues you mentioned have been issues boiling for several decades. No politician, regardless of good intentions, charisma, and star appeal can wave a magic wand and convince others to get along. It just doesn't work that way.

[TwilightGardener]

28. Seems like we're reacting rather than heading off problems--I was pretty positive

on Obama's foreign policy until the last four months or so, but it seems like a lot of issues are cropping up all at once. For example, there is the possibility that regime change in Libya (which I am also not certain was a good idea) has wrought trouble in Mali, for example, and that situation has spiraled into a minor war almost overnight (not OUR war...yet). Now, I think Obama really needs to become involved in foreign policy. There needs to be a renewed focus. He barely mentioned foreign policy in his inaugural speech.

[Beacool]

14. It's very simple, none of those other cabinet members is Hillary.

Do you really need someone to spell it out?

[TwilightGardener]

15. LOL. Please.

[antigop]

18. He didn't interview with outgoing Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, did he? nt

[Maven]

19. Hillary resentment is tiresome.

[JohnnyLib2]

25. But soooo predictable

[Enrique]

27. i agree, and you are the first person that I've seen point it out

on DU or anywhere else.

It could be as simple as a gimmick to capitalize on Hillary's popularity and a chance for some no-risk publicity in prime time. It will be like a husband-wife interview, they're not going to get any hard balls i'm sure. Just questions that will lead to charming anecdotes for everyone to enjoy.

But I hope they surprise me and ask them some tough questions. You mention Africa above, that would be something I'd like to hear them talk about, both of them should have things to say about that.

[TwilightGardener]

30. Yeah, they do need to address what we're planning to do in places like Mali and Algeria.

I doubt it's some sort of implied endorsement or pre-campaign kick-off event--he wouldn't do that to Joe, who is clearly planning to run. You are probably right in your assessment--just a feel-good tribute. It's just not commonly done, or if it is I don't remember it.

[Beacool]

16. I'm looking forward to this interview.

Apparently this is the first Obama interview with anyone besides Michelle.

[Politicub]

20. This is Obama's endorsement of Secretary Clinton

That's what it looks like to me.

[Cha]

24. Really Nice Pic of Hillary, Bill, and Pres Obama outside in the Inaugural Crowds.. Brr

"And why did he ask me and why did I say yes? Because we both love our country."
http://theobamadiary.com/

I'm glad they had an interview together. It's always amazing to me when former rivals can actually genuinely come together for the sake of their country. they forget about ego and do what's in the best interest for the Good of a shared goal.

[Ian Iam]

26. Truly, a team player

Bravo, Mrs Clinton!

[Trascoli]

29. yes she is a team player

She has had many accusations thrown her way, given President Clinton and President Obama. She did a great job at both