I don’t think it’s all that surprising that Hillary Clinton is working out well in State. I think that she’s enjoying having a real job, where she is responsible for getting certain things done, she works within an organization, etc. For a smart, hard-working, mature person, that might be quite a bit more enjoyable than being Mrs. Clinton or Madam Candidate. Even being a US Senator would be kind of a weird existence — a lot of lonely advocacy, not a whole lot of getting things done in a structured way.
Back last fall, when Barack Obama sprang his surprise about naming former rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, many people assumed she would be the Cabinet’s brightest star — a celebrity at large on the world stage, the face of American foreign policy while the president was consumed back home by domestic issues and a troubled economy.
Few commentators predicted the reality: an era of grindstone leadership at the State Department.
But that’s exactly what Clinton has fashioned at Foggy Bottom. She has become a disciplined loyalist who jostles for White House influence just like any Cabinet secretary and who has advanced her cause by striking some key internal alliances.
via Hillary Clinton toils in the shadows – Ben Smith – POLITICO.com.
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