Hillary Clinton in The Obamians, by James Mann

On Foreign Policy: America is the "indispensable nation"

But the words didn't originate with them, either. In a 1976 article in "Foreign Policy," Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote of "America the indispensible." Despite its defeat in Vietnam, he argued, American power remains "central to global stability and progress." During that period, Brzezinski argued that the US should start to give a much higher priority to its relationship with its allies.

On Foreign Policy: Ceremonial role abroad as First Lady, but no NSC meetings

Later on, during the presidential campaign against Obama, Hillary Clinton would assert that these efforts demonstrated her experience in foreign policy. But [one of Bill Clinton's appointees from the] State Department said, "she did not sit in on National Security Council meetings. She did not have a security clearance. She did not manage any part of the national security bureaucracy, nor did she have her own national security staff. She did not do any heavy lifting with foreign governments, whether they were friendly or not." Her most tangible influence in foreign policy was in selecting personnel: She played an important role in persuading President Clinton to select Madeleine Albright as his second secretary of state.

On Foreign Policy: Focus on BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India, China, & South Africa

On Foreign Policy: Freedom of navigation & open access in South China Sea

The US was, in effect, rejecting China's claims in the South China Sea. Its suggestion of multilateral talks also undercut China's strategy; Vietnam had most eagerly sought to "internationalize" its dispute with China.

On Foreign Policy: New American Moment: new ways of global leadership

Clinton began by saying that the world's problems required bringing people together "as only America can." Foreign leaders and ordinary people overseas "look to America not just to engage, but to lead," she said. Then she quickly came to the heart of her speech: "Let me say it clearly: The US can, must and will lead in this new century."

This was a "New American Moment," Clinton said, the words capitalized in the transcript of the speech to indicate a special phrase meant to be highlighted. It was "a moment when our global leadership is essential, even if we must often lead in new ways." When she extolled the virtues of diplomacy, she immediately added, "Of course, this administration is also committed to maintaining the greatest military in the history of the world, and, if needed, to vigorously defend ourselves and our friends."

On Homeland Security: Smart Power: blend of military power and soft power

The Republicans had been preoccupied with military power. Democrats' intellectual leaders wrote about the importance of America's "soft power"--the influence of its intangible values, ideas, mass culture and educational institutions. In 2005 the Center for American Progress put together a proposed new national security strategy for the US that was given the name "Integrated Power": it called for a blend of military power and soft power. Eventually, the Democrats came up with another phrase, "smart power," that convened well their convictions that the Bush Republicans had been dumb. Hillary Clinton would eventually make "smart power" the catchphrase for her first major speech as secretary of state.

Whatever the right adjective was, Democrats' established leaders were still in favor of American power and they wanted to preserve it.

On Principles & Values: Appointed by Obama as "team of rivals," like Lincoln

The Obama team had already shrewdly deflected attention away from the politics of the Clinton appointment--whether, for example, Obama was appointing her to remove a potential source of intraparty opposition--by touting the idea of a "team of rivals." That phrase, taken from the title of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book on Abraham Lincoln's Civil War cabinet, gave a grand historical gloss to the uneasy merger of the Obama and Clinton teams, which everyone knew would be carefully scrutinized for any sign of discord.

As applied to the Obama cabinet, "team of rivals" was mostly a marketing concept for a Clinton appointment that would not go down well with the Obama faithful.

On Principles & Values: Vietnam converted her from conservative to liberal

Vietnam had social and political ramifications that were not foreseen at the time. The war led to the abolition of the draft, and that in turn had sweeping consequences for many other aspects of American life.

On Technology: Condemned China's use of Internet to monitor dissidents

She singled out Tunisia and Egypt, but the country to which Clinton devoted the most attention in her speech was China. Later, Google publicly threatened to pull out of China because of cyberattacks on its email system and the targeting of Chinese dissidents and human rights activists. Clinton's response was swift and pointed: She called on the Chinese government to investigate the attacks on Google. Countries that engage in such attacks "should face consequences and international condemnation," she said.

On Technology: WikiLeaks revealed State Department internal documents

The media reaction to these stories concentrated heavily on Wikileaks itself, its founder, Julian Assange, and the process by which the cables became public. The substance of the cables got much less attention.

As a result, it was easy to overlook the impact of the Wikileaks cables overseas, particularly in smaller countries where autocratic rulers were described in unflattering terms. [As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had to deal with those autocratic rulers].

On Technology: Post-WikiLeaks "Apology Tour" to insulted world leaders

As a result, it was easy to overlook the impact of the Wikileaks cables overseas, particularly in smaller countries where autocratic rulers were described in unflattering terms. America's senior officials recognized the significance of the leaks more easily than the media because they were obliged to deal with the fallout--the furious protests from presidents and prime ministers whose foibles and private conversation were brought to light. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who traveled abroad much more often than other senior officials, joked to an aide while on a trip to the Middle East that she should wear a jacket like that of a traveling rock band, bearing an image of a globe with the words "The Apology Tour" surrounding it. "I think I will be answering concerns about Wikileaks for the rest of my life, not just my tenure as secretary of state," Clinton said.

On War & Peace: OpEd: Iraq war follows tradition of active US leadership

For the Democratic foreign policy elite, the Iraq War was a disaster both politically and for the ideas they had come to hold. The war reopened old divisions between the Democratic Party's leaders and the party's base. At the grass roots, since Vietnam, liberals had been instinctively skeptical about the use of force. By contrast, many of the party's foreign policy hands, particularly the alumni of the Clinton administration, had a different outlook. They viewed themselves as heirs to the foreign policy traditions of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John Kennedy, all proponents of national strength and an active leadership role for the US. The Clinton administration had put its imprint on the general idea of regime change in Iraq, though not by American military invasion.

On War & Peace: Clinton-Gates combo won push for Afghan surge

Robert Gates gradually came around to supporting the McChrystal request, and Hillary Clinton did, too. During that period, the two often sided with each other in administration debates; they were happy to show that the secretaries of state and defense could work smoothly together, unlike their immediate predecessors, Donald Rumsfeld with Colin Powell & Condi Rice. The Clinton-Gates combine helped to win over the president to sending more troops, despite the skepticism of other senior administration officials such as Biden; the president was not prepared to override the recommendations of the two departments primarily responsible for foreign affairs. Obama approved the deployment of 30,000 more American troops for Afghanistan, bringing the total to about 100,000, and also called on NATO allies to provide another 5,000 or more of their own.