Hillary Clinton reportedly accepts Barack Obama's Cabinet offer

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to accept the role of secretary of State, according to several published reports. (See news video below)

The reports, if confirmed, mean that Clinton will relinquish her Senate seat from New York to become the nation's top diplomat in an administration led by her former rival, Barack Obama.

The Ticket reported earlier today that talks between Clinton and the president-elect were progressing.

Obama asked the former first lady and runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination to fill the role last week. Since then, she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have undergone intense vetting.

Hillary Clinton made her foreign policy experience a selling point during the primaries, telling crowds that as first lady she visited 80 countries. During the battle for the Democratic nomination, she and her husband often criticized Obama for lacking the foreign policy credentials necessary to be president. Remember "Ready from Day One"?

But after Obama clinched the nomination, Clinton campaigned hard for him. She allegedly made Obama's short list for vice president but lost out to Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

Clinton would become only the third woman in U.S. history to hold that post, after Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright.

We will update with official confirmation. Meanwhile, The Times' Peter Nicholas has a smart piece about the Clinton-Obama negotiations.

-- Kate Linthicum

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Photo: Michal Czerwonka / EPA

Comments

[Nathan]

Some change. Obama's inexperience is showing through more than ever. His idea of change is more of the same.

[steve rodriguez]

What change? This looks like the Clinton administration revisited!

[John G]

She'll finally get her chance to answer that phone at 3 a.m.

[Shirley]

So what! It is just more of the same,she is now a sniveling nothing, a wallowing pig in the mud if you know what I mean!

[Fernando Sousa]

Won't these Clintons ever go away??? Hillary YOU LOST. Barak just made his first HUGE mistake. Just wait and see.
Pity.

[lexi78]

haha so is this the change obama is giving us??..another clinton?? sounds the same to me..im from new york and she hasn't done one thing for NYS....only used it as a stepping stone for her presidential candidacy...watch her use this position just for a 2012 campaign...

[dss]

And who would be your idea of change?

Clinton reprensents an about face from Bush's policies.

[Alan]

I was a Barack supporter all the way, from his support of Nuclear power, to his insistence that his vote for the war was wrong. I didn't hear Nuclear power mentioned in his Nov. 4th speech and now he nominates his top rival to head up the one area they severely disagree on. Nominating Hilary for State is completely unacceptable Barack!

[CatGirl]

Congratulations, Hillary. I think Obama made a wise choice. Why does everyone hate her so much? She is a smart, astute woman. I am glad to see Obama's cabinet picking intelligent people. This is about working together, people. Government, not politics. To all you haters out there: get with the progam.

[Anna Knapp]

I am very happy about this/ My main reason for wanting her to run for president was to restore America's image and credibility in the world. I think she will make a great Secretary of State and I think with Bill Clinton by her side, she should have some clout across the world. Neither of them just fell off the turniip truck. His humanitatian work should be an asset to her and to our country as well. God Bless her and our country!

[Ed Slavin]

Wonderful appointment! What a wonderful day! Like Abraham Lincoln before him, Barack Obama is unifying the country, starting with a cabinet with several former Presidential campaign rivals. In the words of Langston Hughes, "let America be America again!"

[Gaz]

Oh well .. one day US politics will mature beyond the level of "popularity". I find it difficult to believe that this person actually made it to the senate .... from a state that she probably couldn't locate on a map 5 years ago. This is the same person that claimed to have been shot at in a war zone as her "experience" qualifier in global politics. Now she is to be the official representative in matters of state? Keeeriist! It is no wonder the US is the laughing stock of the world.

[NCVoter]

This is fantastic, just fantastic. She is a smart prepared and committed civil servant and this is the one thing that will bring me more into his camp. Outstanding decision on all fronts and for so many reasons. She is known and respected around the world and the example set by the Obama administration and thus US in the world for peaceful transition of power in a democracy is powerful.

[Mary]

Its all the people from the clinton administration some change im so upset!

[Brian Tyler]

When Obama said "change" he meant change from a republican administration.

Clinton, unlike Bush, appointed people on merit (even his choosing his wife this way). These people are very qualified and fit into a cohesive vision for this country.

Lets bring back the gains this country made under Clinton, the gains Bush erased.

[Steve]

...people believed your words Mr.Obama, and I was one of them..."change","no more of the same", "time to shake up Washington", "no lobbyists"...all nothing but empty words. Four years is not too long and if there is one thing that Americans really hate is blatant lies...you have been given the chance, don't blew it or you will end up just like GWB in the garbage bin of the history...shame on you already

[skip]

This is a good move, Obama is putting a good team in place. And the Clinton years were not that bad. Remember he put the US in the Black by 5 trillion dollars, until good-o- boy was elected.

[Wil C. Fry]

Not that I'm a fan of Mrs. Clinton, but Barack Obama never said "change" meant something different than the previous Democratic administration.

It was always obvious during his campaign that "change" was referring to the current (Bush) administration. The so-called enemy during his campaign was "the last eight years," not all of U.S. Presidential history.

(Not that I'm a big Obama fan either... But after the previous comments, I felt it necessary to set the record straight.)

[Sophie]

It's just as I feared. Obama is selling short the masses of the left that he had garnered in support. This is the Clinton administration revisited. During the campaign, many commenters noted hardly a difference between Obama and Clinton on many policy issues. There was little reason to choose Obama for those of looking for more positive change except his words. And now what?

[james]

AWESOME!! I think this is going to be great :D Obama is doing an awesome job picking a team that does what America wants and needs right now: 1) individuals with both a National AND Global outlook, and 2) individuals with the experience and credibility to make believable and rational changes for the better. You can criticize because you are uncomfortable with Hillary (unfounded, I think) but this really does round out a team that's got the grit, credibility and experience we need now. BRAVO!!

[Dennis]

A woman of intelligence and tact--working with a man of intelligence and tact--that seems like change to me and seems to bode well for international relations.

[jim]

Clinton is a talent and twice as smart as Candy. This is a shrewd move and those who say it's more of the same...same as what? the present no talent that's been dragging our country down for 8 years. I dont think so.

Give us the prosperity of the old Clinton days...and scrub out any lingering smell from the current administration

[rjs]

Yes she campaigned but I would not characterize it as hard...begrudgingly is more appropriate. I'd also venture a guess that she was never a serious VP candidate as she's clearly got her own agenda.

A fine article until you injected your own bias.

[AkCoyote]

The Clintons are the most dangerous when working from the inside out. Having Hillary as SoS is absolutely beautiful.

[Donny Cheeks]

This is change but you Republican do not embrace change unless it comes from you; which has never come. Unless you figure it out; you will do nothing but hurt this country and try to belittle people that do not agree with you. Totally Un-American and you say you put America first. Just another byline; how stupid