Head of State

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: as first lady she visited 80 countries, and as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she oversaw the American military machine. And Mrs Clinton will be as well placed as any secretary of state for a generation to make progress in the Middle East: she knows most of the main characters personally, she sees eye to eye with Mr Obama, she can draw on her husband’s legacy and she is nothing if not relentless. Defeat and humiliation only seem to make her stronger—the perfect qualification for dealing with the Middle East.

The next president will face daunting foreign-policy tasks as well as a mother-in-law of a recession. America’s global brand has been tarnished. The battle with radical Islam has been turned into a partisan issue. The machinery of policymaking has been wrenched out of shape, particularly at the State Department. Sending a big beast like Mrs Clinton over to the State Department is undoubtedly risky. But sending a small beast to do such a big job might be riskier still.