Hillary Clinton

I vividly remember reading near the end of the George W. Bush presidency a powerful public letter signed by more than 100 members of the U.S. Foreign Service. It described their deep concern about what had happened to American diplomacy during that administration, with its militarism and its name-calling of other countries. The diplomats explained the delicate web of connections, brought about by many person-to-person interactions, that is necessary for diplomatic relations between countries. The State Department had woven these over decades, helping to make possible reasonable solutions to international issues and avoid military involvement. The Bush administration, they said, had crudely and ignorantly swiped away this web, which they were afraid would take many decades to rebuild.

This was the situation Hillary Clinton entered as secretary of state, and she worked with amazing energy to re-create the power of diplomacy. She visited 112 countries and kept in touch with many issues and leaders. She earned respect internationally, as well as bipartisan support here. She understood that human rights are critical to U.S. security interests, and she tirelessly promoted the welfare of women and children, especially education for girls, which is known to help countries to build toward democracy. She also fought for the benefit abroad of American companies and for strong trade policies, believing that good commercial relations support peace.

No, I don’t like that Clinton has lied about some things, or her slips in classified information. I don’t like what I hear about every other politician about similar things. However, I think we all would do well to imagine ourselves in their shoes sometimes, enduring the pressures, superhuman demands, criticism, ridicule, jet lag, internal and external conflicts, and sheer energy drain of the political life, and then think through our choices thoughtfully.