General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Anyone else want someone other than Rice as SOS? Who do you want? [View all]Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)We could have an interesting -- and I would hope civil -- discussion/debate.
And I'm not dissing Rice, per se. A good Secretary should ideally be a number of things: a good leader, a good manager, a good diplomat, and a good representative of the President. Not all Secretaries do all those things equally well. From a perspective outside State, Secretaries who do the latter two things well, as Hillary does, tend to be highly regarded, even if they don't lead and/or manage well. From the perspective of having to work for the organization, though, leadership and management matter. That's why two of the most belovedly-remembered Secretaries among State rank-and-file -- who are overwhelmingly liberal Dems -- are Colin Powell and George Schultz; they really knew how to run an organization.