US president-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state as early as next week, a new milestone for a former first lady and a convergence of two political forces who contested mightily for the presidency.
Obama transition aides described a process on Thursday that appears on track to make Clinton the top diplomat in an Obama administration, just one week after the two first met in secrecy to discuss the idea. Obama plans to nominate her after next Thursday's US Thanksgiving holiday, aides said.
The nomination would be a remarkable union between the former first lady who was an early favorite to win the presidency and the first-term senator who upset her in the primary and cruised to a general election victory. Such a high-profile seat in the Cabinet for Clinton also would be another achievement for the most accomplished former first lady in US history, who has been the first presidential spouse to serve in the Senate and run for the White House herself.
Some fellow Democrats and government insiders have questioned whether Clinton is too independent and politically ambitious to be an effective secretary of state. But a senior Obama adviser said the president-elect has been enthusiastic about naming Clinton as secretary of state from the start, believing she would bring instant stature and credibility to US diplomatic relations and that the advantages to her serving far outweighed potential downsides.
The advisers who explained Obama's plans and thinking did so on a condition of anonymity because he was not ready to formally announce his plans.
Retired Marine General James Jones has also emerged as a leading contender for White House national security adviser.
Democratic sources said Jones, the former top operational commander of NATO, was in the running for the job of national security adviser along with James Steinberg, who was deputy national security adviser in former president Bill Clinton's administration.
An ABC News report said Jones was Obama's preferred candidate and the president-elect particularly valued his more than four decades of military experience.
Jones is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans but has avoided aligning himself with either party.
He is known to have been a strong critic of the current administration's handling of the Iraq War and is quoted as describing the war as a “debacle” in Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward's 2006 book State of Denial.
While refusing to confirm it, Jones has not disputed the quote, published while he was still serving at NATO.
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