Maybe you caught the 20/20 interview when Hillary and the President practically held hands. Pretty lovey dovey for a pair who have enough dirt on one another to curl your hair.
The interesting thing about Hillary is that her promoted persona is one of smart power in an independent woman. Yet there she sat, yielding to the guy next to her who four years ago took her place from her...just like she does with Bill, who historically takes her place and gives it to an outside woman.
Is Hillary hard working? Yes. She put her time in logging a kazillion frequent flyer miles. But going places doesn't necessarily mean she was effective after she got there. What things did Hillary accomplish that would mark her tenure? Were there treaties signed or evidences of a "Clinton doctrine" which made a difference in the world?
1. America's perception in the world was one of the things that the President talked about when he ran in 2008. Concerned that no one liked us overseas...and that we were bullies with a superiority complex...Hillary served the President as a representative of the global bowing/scraping tour. We then managed to stiff allies and lean heavily into the Muslim world. Did that "doctrine" work? Has the world's perception of the United States improved? Has the Muslim perception of us improved?
2. No human could be expected to untangle the Middle East hostility. That's a job for the Prince of Peace. But has there been ANY progress in that theatre? In a word, NO. In two words, Arab Spring.
The tectonic plates shifted in the Arab world as Yemen, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia threw off their yokes...while they protested in Bahrain, Syria, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Sudan. When Hillary came to office, Mubarek and Kadafi were in. Now we've helped them go without any good placeholders behind them. No one would have voted these guys in for Benevolent Grandpa of the Year, but at least their country was not seething and the Brotherhood was not in charge. There has been much upheaval during Hillary's watch.
We chose NOT to align with Iranians in the streets who begged for help democratizing, but Hillary made nice with Syrian President Assad and tried to flatter him into a ceasefire. Then when it was obvious that wouldn't happen, in the spring of 2012 Hillary asked that we help arm the rebels; she was turned down. Now as the slaughter numbers have gone from 7,500 to 60,000...a "coalition of the willing" (unanimous agreement by Secretary State, Defense, Joint Chiefs, CIA) asked again to arm the rebels. "Nope" said the President. So much for Hillary's influence.
3. Of all the Arab Spring countries, Egypt was our best bet for influencing for good. We had an "in" because Hillary's assistant was a Muslim woman whose family is involved in the Muslim Brotherhood/Sisterhood and that put Hillary up close and personal with the new leadership in Egypt.
How has that worked for us? Twenty nine died over the weekend in new rioting in Tahrir Square. Egypt is messy and less promising. Our hope is not in Morsi (the hoped-for connection), but in the Egyptian army.
4. When we got Hillary, we also got her global agenda to promote gay rights and abortion through the use of United States aid money. LINK There used to be a saying "that won't play well in Peoria". Well, the progressive worldview didn't play well in Muslim countries, either. Enter Benghazi.
If the State Department placed a gay Ambassador in a Muslim country, it was naive to think they would "like" him enough to overlook his lifestyle...or recognize that lifestyle as a human right. When the four Americans died, the State Department had an ad on a .gov site which advertised for jobs @the Libyan Embassy...saying "staff positions, prefer gay couple". Egad.
What made them think that would work?
So you have the head of the State Department who bungles the job and takes full responsibility and gets wildly lauded. What is wrong with that picture? It would seem so unlikely to land on your feet after such a State Department disaster as Benghazi. But Clintons have a knack for landing on their feet.
To return to an earlier question which would seem reasonable for marking her report card...what Clinton doctrine might have gained ground for us? What accomplishments might she be known for?
Most would agree that her best efforts did not see fruition. The Arab Spring was a bet on the wrong horse. But on the global scale, her effort to promote unrighteousness fulfilled what Muslims say about us. What irony. And it stirred the pot rather than making the Dale Carnegie goal of making friends and influencing people.