Two Opposing Commentaries On Amb. Susan Rice Withdrawing Her Name For Consideration Of The U.S. Secretary Of State Post

Susan Rice’s Personality 'Disorder' -- Lloyd Grove, Daily Beast

Brusque. Aggressive. Undiplomatic. The adjectives used to describe the ambassador aren’t kind. Lloyd Grove on Susan Rice’s polarizing temperament—and why that may matter more than Benghazi.

Susan Rice, the United States ambassador to the United Nations and President Obama’s most visible candidate to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, is being subjected to an immutable law of the Washington power grid: in the rough and tumble of political combat, personality trumps policy.

Government policy, especially foreign policy, is rife with nuance and complication. But personality is easier to grasp and harder to shed.

Recent critiques of Rice’s influence on U.S. diplomacy in Rwanda, Sudan, and Eritrea over the past two decades are endlessly debatable among think-tank elites. Republican Sen. John McCain’s threat to block her (hypothetical) confirmation because she relied on faulty intelligence to mischaracterize the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya—a warning joined by fellow GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)—seems emptier by the day. Rice, after all, is African-American and female—two demographics that the Republican Party is not especially anxious to alienate further.

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An Unfair Portrait Of Susan Rice -- Amar Bakshi, CNN 

(CNN) -- U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration Thursday for secretary of state. Over the past few months, a slew of articles have criticized Rice's personality. The Daily Beast recently ran a piece titled "Susan Rice's Personality Disorder." These articles allege that America's U.N. ambassador is "brusque," "dismissive," "undiplomatic," "shrill" and awful to work for. I felt compelled to write something because these caricatures of Rice bear no resemblance to my former boss. I worked for Susan Rice in 2009 and 2010 as her special assistant in the Washington office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Over the past few weeks, I have talked to other junior staffers for Rice—current and former—who all share my surprise at the way she has been described.

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My Comment: As to what is my take on this story .... Max Boot has it right. As to who will get the job .... my money is on Senator John Kerry.