Obama’s Secretary of State Picks
I got a lot of views for Doxas just for writing about Barack Obama’s possible vice-presidential picks. So it might do some good for the site and the reader to present some possible choices as to who Obama might select as his Secretary of State.
Before we begin, let me explain a little bit about what the role of the Secretary of State, or SOS, is. The SOS can be summed up as the presidents main foreign policy adviser and our official diplomat for the our government. The former is a result of the past couple of decades after WWII. One of the most influential was Henry Kissinger and our current one is Condolezza Rice. Now anyways, lets get to the picks.
1. Dennis Ross
Pros: Dennis ‘The Man” Ross, as I call him, has earned his credentials. He served under both Bush Sr. and Clinton in the State Department for more than a decade. In that time he tried to broker peace with the Palestinians and Israelis which led to the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Oh yeah, lets not forget the impressive Jordan-Israel Treaty.
Cons: What about North Korea, Russia and China? Dennis Ross’s career has been primarily one focused on mid-east relations. And regarding mid-east relations, some might say he failed to bring peace in the region despite his record.
2. Sen. Joe Biden
Pros: If John Kerry would of won, he most likely would of called upon this guy right here. One of the strongest reactions from the Democrats regarding Bush’s appeasement words in the senate came from Mr. Biden.
And coming from Joe, it means a lot. The guy is the head of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and has been for awhile. He also influenced the nation’s approach to human rights violations in the Balkans which we later stepped into.
Cons: He supported the War in Iraq and and some see the US intervention in the Balkans as unnecessary.
3. Gov. Bill Richardson
Pros: As I mentioned before in my Obama VP article, Bill Richardson is the man that is qualified to be your grandmother and just about anything else. One of the jobs mentioned in his resume is that of US Ambassador to the United Nations.
Cons: And just like I mentioned in the other article, Bill Richardson being chosen as SoS can be seen as a corrupt bargain since he endorsed Obama a few weeks ago.
4. Sam Nunn
Pros: Nunn has received commendation from both parties. In 1994, Clinton sent him along with Collin Powell and Jimmy Carter to Haiti in order to force the dictator of that country out. Guess what? They succeeded and the US avoided military conflict there. Since then he has worked to keep nukes to a low level.
Cons: You just know the pacifist-allegations will come from the right should be he be mentioned for the job.
