Reactions as Obama Names Hillary Clinton Secretary of State

At a news conference in Chicago, Mr Obama also announced nominations for other key National Security team posts.

Although the two repeatedly clashed during the nomination race, Mrs Clinton went on to campaign for Mr Obama as he took on Republican John McCain in the race for the White House.

Complicated agreement

Former president Bill Clinton had cleared the way for his wife's appointment by reaching a complicated agreement on his financial arrangements, reports said.

Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to sweeping restrictions on his personal activities to clear the way for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to become Secretary of State in the incoming Obama Administration. The rules that the former president agreed to are unprecedented.

"What matters most are two things," says James Lindsay, director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas-Austin. "One, the secretary of State has to have the president's ear. Two, the president has to have the secretary of State's back."

Obama is choosing for his most prestigious Cabinet post an independent-minded policymaker whose world view has been shaped by eight years as a globe-trotting first lady and eight years as a senator with time on the Armed Services Committee. She combines a focus on "soft" issues such as maternal health with rhetoric more hawkish than Obama's on containing Iran's nuclear program and protecting Israel.

Reaction is rolling in on President-elect Barack Obama's leadership team national security and foreign policy.

First, some conservatives. Mary Katherine Ham at The Weekly Standard (jokingly?) accuses the Obama team of "blatant misogyny" and failure of usually "impeccable staging" because all the women were short and hidden behind microphones as they spoke. She calls the press "refreshingly skeptical" and Obama "rather testy" in response.

As expected, Mr. Obama named former first lady Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, making his former rival the point person as he attempts to rebuild America's tarnished reputation abroad. Former president Bill Clinton cleared the way for his wife's first-executive job by agreeing to disclose the names of donors who have poured tens of millions into his foundation.

The reaction to President-elect Barack Obama's national security team is coming fast and furious.

Former President Bill Clinton issued a statement: "As an American, I am thankful that President-elect Barack Obama has asked Hillary to be Secretary of State and that she has accepted. As her husband, I am deeply proud.

It must have been painful, but at least it was classy. Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) reaction statement to President-elect Obama's choice for secretary of state was the first to arrive in the Sleuth's inbox (besides, of course, Bill Clinton's).

"President-Elect Obama has chosen a terrific national security team to protect our security and help restore America's rightful place in the world," Kerry said.

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