Clinton out, Rice in?
It is official that Hillary Clinton will not seek a second term as Secretary of State for the Obama administration; therefore the search for her successor is on.
A few names have appeared in the media as likely replacements such as Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.
Today, focus will be on Rice as she's been receiving more media attention but for a different reason.
How does Rice fare against Clinton?
Education:
Clinton: Graduated from Wellesley College in 1969, attended Yale Law School until 1973.
Rice: Graduated from Stanford University in 1986, attended New College, Oxford University (1988,1990).
Positions Before the White House:
Clinton: Presidential Impeachment Inquiry Staff in President Nixon's Watergate scandal (1974); Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign (1976); part-time chairman of Legal Services Corporation by President Carter (1977); First Lady of Arkansas (1979-1981, 1983-1992), Arkansas Educational Standards Committee Chair; Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families Co-Founder.
Rice: Board Member for the US Fund for UNICEF; Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution (2002-2009).
Roles Since Entering the White House:
Clinton: First Lady (1993-2000), Head of Task Force on National Health Reform (1993); New York Senator (2001-2009); Senate member of the Transformation Advisory Group to the Department of Defense's Joint Forces Command; US Secretary of State (2009-2013)
Rice: US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs for the Clinton administration (1997-2001); Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council; Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping (1993-1995); Senior Advisor for National Security Affairs on the Obama for America Campaign; Advisory Board of the Obama-Biden Transition; Co-Chair of Obama Administration policy working group on national security; US Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2009-Current).
Clinton clearly has more years in political experience but Rice has managed to be in more roles in a shorter duration of time. Rice has White House experience as well with the Clinton administration and familiar with foreign policy.
Will Rice's qualifications be enough to consider her a viable candidate for Secretary of State? Or will the situation in Benghazi, Libya be too much for her in the nomination process?