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Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008

Hillary Clinton to take job at State

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat to become secretary of state in the Obama administration, making her the public face to the world for the man who dashed her own hopes for the presidency, confidants of Clinton said Friday.

The accord between the two leading figures of the Democratic Party was the culmination of a weeklong drama that riveted the nation's capital. President-elect Barack Obama and Clinton fought perhaps the most polarizing nomination battle in decades, but in recruiting her for his Cabinet, Obama chose to turn a rival into a partner, and she concluded she could have a greater impact by accepting the post than by remaining in the Senate.

Her selection is still to be formalized and will not be announced until after Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, senior Democratic officials said Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary. The stock market soared on the news.

Officials also said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who had hoped to be secretary of state, had emerged as the likely pick as commerce secretary.

Clinton's role, though a supporting one, would make her one of the most influential players on the international stage.

The sometimes awkward dance between Obama and Clinton in the eight days since he invited her to Chicago for a meeting culminated in a telephone call Thursday. Before the call, Clinton was skeptical about the prospect of joining the Cabinet, said her confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.

Two advisers to Clinton said she wanted assurances that she would have direct access to Obama and not need to go through a national security adviser. And she wanted the authority to pick her own staff at the State Department. But Obama addressed her concerns, leading her to conclude she should take the job, they said.

"She's ready," one of Clinton's confidants said. The first meeting in Chicago "was so general" that she needed to have a better sense of how she would fit into Obama's administration, and the call helped her get "comfortable" with the idea of working together, the confidant said.

Clinton's Senate office broke a week of silence to acknowledge the talks but cautioned that they had not been made final.

"We're still in discussions, which are very much on track," said her spokesman, Philippe Reines. "Any reports beyond that are premature."

Obama wants to announce the members of his national security team at once. Advisers said he was weighing whether to make retired Gen. James L. Jones, a former Marine commandant and NATO supreme commander, his national security adviser, installing a formidable counterweight to Clinton. Obama was still trying to decide whether to keep Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on an interim basis or install another choice to run the Pentagon right away.

The choice of Clinton pleased many in the Democratic establishment who admire her strength and skills, and they praised Obama for putting the rancor of the campaign behind him.

"Senator Clinton is a naturally gifted diplomat and would be an inspired choice if she is chosen by President-elect Obama as secretary of state," said Warren Christopher, who held that job under President Bill Clinton.

But it could also disappoint many of Obama's supporters, who worked hard to have him elected instead of Clinton and saw him as a vehicle for changing Washington. Obama argued during the primaries that it was time to move beyond the Clinton era and in particular belittled her claims to foreign policy experience as a first lady who circled the globe.

Advisers said Obama concluded after the election that the problems confronting the nation were so serious that he needed Clinton's stature and capabilities as part of his team, notwithstanding their past differences. The bitterness that inhabited the Obama team for much of the year has faded with time, advisers said.

And many of the aides working on the transition with Obama are not campaign veterans with scars from the primaries, but rather former Clinton administration officials such as Rahm Emanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, and John Podesta, the transition co-chairman, who admire Clinton.

For Clinton, becoming secretary of state would require her to sacrifice the independence that has come with a Senate seat and the 18 million votes she collected in the primaries and caucuses. She has found it liberating the last eight years to speak for herself, not as someone's spouse. But friends said she could still have her voice while subordinating her ambitions to Obama's agenda.

"Hillary Clinton will always be seen as her own person," said Mickey Kantor, a longtime friend who was commerce secretary in her husband's administration. "But you know, Hillary Clinton's a terrific lawyer. She knows how to represent a client, and she's good at it. And I don't have any doubt in my mind that she'll be a team player."

Clinton had to accept that she might never become president, a former aide said. "There's a very small chance that she could run again," he said. "You're not going to be the president, so you want to make sure your next few years, which may be your last in public life, really make a mark."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.