# Hillary Clinton leaving her job??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320 "2012-11-17T17:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/1 "2012-11-17T17:02:06Z")
When did this news come out? First I heard something about the republicans blocking the UN ambassors selection as Sec of State. Then I hear a short blurb suggesting Hillary will “maybe get a cooking show” afterward she leaves. BUT…I’m missing something. I have never seen ANY news at all about her leaving her post. All I’'ve heard was news stories, as if she was quitting and everyone already knows about it. I Didn’t Know. I watch the news pretty closely every day, but somehow missed this. When was it ever said she was leaving? Where was it published? Why didn’t I see it? Was I unconsious for some length of time during the release of this information and not realize it? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/2 "2012-11-17T17:06:27Z")
[http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/hillary-clinton-will-leave-state-department-if-obama-wins-reelection-in-2012/](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/hillary-clinton-will-leave-state-department-if-obama-wins-reelection-in-2012/) She’s made statements for months. As usual with second terms there will be a lot of shifting in the cabinet I predict. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/3 "2012-11-17T17:09:00Z")
She has said almost from the time she took office that she only intended to serve one term, and she’s repeated that position from time to time since then. [Here’s one example.](http://www.examiner.com/article/clinton-will-follow-tradition-serve-one-term-as-secretary-of-state) That’s standard for most Secretaries of State and many other cabinet positions, although it’s not an ironclad rule. These jobs are very demanding and the start of the president’s new term is the most logical point for cabinet officials to leave, so typically about half the cabinet will leave between the first and second term. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/4 "2012-11-17T17:11:49Z")
Please take a look… from > **[Hillary Clinton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton)** > > Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (née Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as the first lady of the United States as the wife of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee for president in the 2016 presidential election, becoming... Throughout her term, Clinton had indicated she had no interest in running for president again[320] or in holding any other office. In March 2011, she expanded upon that by saying she was not interested in serving a second term as Secretary of State should Obama be re-elected in 2012.[313][321] ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/5 "2012-11-17T17:14:06Z")
I believe the technical term is “cashing in”. Not for Hilary of course, she has enough fame on her own. But other cabinet members have tremendous responsibility for relatively low pay. Quitting during an election would cause disruption. Leaving after allows them to go on to high paying gigs in the private sector. Lots of resignations coming. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/6 "2012-11-17T17:20:47Z")
It’s very rare for a SecState to do two terms. She’s made some (probably joking) comments about doing a home decorating show or some such thing. Whether she runs for president in 2016 remains to be seen, but she hasn’t ruled it out categorically. Even if she did, there’s nothing to say she couldn’t change her mind. If the Democratic Primary were held today (gasp!), she’d have it in a heartbeat if she wanted it. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/7 "2012-11-17T17:42:09Z")
I would imagine the woman is TIRED, and would like to stay at home and see what it feels like to not live out of a suitcase! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/8 "2012-11-17T17:47:00Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > I would imagine the woman is TIRED, and would like to stay at home and see what it feels like to not live out of a suitcase! > ~VOW Absolutely, and she’s said this numerous times in interviews. Everybody does already know about it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/9 "2012-11-17T17:48:39Z")
Career-wise, there is no real benefit to serving a second term, and a fair amount of risk. Once you’ve been Secretary of State, you’ve been Secretary of State and will have all the opportunities that opens. But the longer you stick around, the greater the chances that some kind of crisis will happen that could tarnish your reputation. ---
**Author:** ![ed\_anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbce88/32.png) [@ed\_anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed_anger)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/10 "2012-11-17T17:50:52Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I believe the technical term is “cashing in”. Not for Hilary of course, she has enough fame on her own. But other cabinet members have tremendous responsibility for relatively low pay. Quitting during an election would cause disruption. Leaving after allows them to go on to high paying gigs in the private sector. Lots of resignations coming. bing bing bing these days to run for office you need to raise massive amounts of money to campaign. the biggest source of money are lobbyists, who funnel money from corporations to Congress etc. so people who are in government for a while leave, become lobbyists because of their contacts, and immediately make 10x what they used to make. lots of places will pay huge money to a former Secetary of State of the current government. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/11 "2012-11-17T22:34:07Z")
> [@ed\_anger](#): > > bing bing bing > > these days to run for office you need to raise massive amounts of money to campaign. the biggest source of money are lobbyists, who funnel money from corporations to Congress etc. so people who are in government for a while leave, become lobbyists because of their contacts, and immediately make 10x what they used to make. lots of places will pay huge money to a former Secetary of State of the current government. And I refuse to believe that her plan is anything other than to use that wealth to run for president again in 2016! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/12 "2012-11-18T01:34:21Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > And I refuse to believe that her plan is anything other than to use that wealth to run for president again in 2016! I’m on record here as saying that neither Clinton nor Joe Biden will run in 2016 and I’ll say it again here. Not a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/13 "2012-11-18T01:43:55Z")
> [@ed\_anger](#): > > these days to run for office you need to raise massive amounts of money to campaign. the biggest source of money are lobbyists, who funnel money from corporations to Congress etc. so people who are in government for a while leave, become lobbyists because of their contacts, and immediately make 10x what they used to make. lots of places will pay huge money to a former Secetary of State of the current government. She’s not going to become a lobbyist to make money to run for president. That makes no sense whatsoever, and the Clintons are already quite rich. > [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > And I refuse to believe that her plan is anything other than to use that wealth to run for president again in 2016! If she runs, and I agree she probably won’t, she’s not going to use her own money. The general election campaigns cost hundreds of millions of dollars. ---
**Author:** ![ed\_anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbce88/32.png) [@ed\_anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed_anger)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/14 "2012-11-18T04:24:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > She’s not going to become a lobbyist to make money to run for president. That makes no sense whatsoever, and the Clintons are already quite rich. Did I say she was going to run again? No, I said she can make heaps of money off her contacts in the government if she wants. This is what a large percentage of Congress does after stepping down. They become lobbyists to the people they worked with, make lots of money, and feed money into the entire political system from corporations. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/15 "2012-11-18T04:59:26Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’m on record here as saying that neither Clinton nor Joe Biden will run in 2016 and I’ll say it again here. Not a chance. Why not Hilary? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/16 "2012-11-18T16:49:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Why not Hilary? Mostly because she’ll be 69 by the 2016 election. (Biden will be 73, BTW.) I think we’re in an era of young, fresh politicians in which the older faces will be slowly exiting the stage. This goes against the general wisdom of the Boomers dominating everything as they age, but I usually go against the general wisdom. Clinton has been saying for a long time how tired she is. She was visibly worn down by the 2008 campaign and her relentless travel schedule at State hasn’t made that better. Campaigns are two years long these days. Does she want to face spending her years from 67 to 69 on an endless grind just so she can work longer and harder from 69 to 73, or worse, 69 to 77? That was Reagan’s ages in office. He notoriously didn’t work the hours that most presidents put in and the office still nearly leveled him by the end. Clinton’s a workaholic. It might literally kill her. But I also think that the bigger social picture is even more important. If you thought that 2008 was the election of hope and change, 2016 will be hopier and changier. The U.S. is entering a major period of transformational change. The capital “F” Future is going to be the big national argument. No older person can win an argument over change. Even if they are true believers, they don’t deep down get it because they don’t swim in the water of change like youth do, and younger people will always see them as representing the past. I actually believe that the Boomers will not want to see someone that old in the office and I’m sure that the next generations will positively hate the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/17 "2012-11-18T19:41:47Z")
It doesn’t look like I missed some specific recent news story that she is definitely and imminently stepping down. Its just been general knowledge for a while and is the expected behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/18 "2012-11-18T20:51:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’m on record here as saying that neither Clinton nor Joe Biden will run in 2016 and I’ll say it again here. Not a chance. I hope she doesn’t, but she is incredibly driven and after a four year or so rest I cannot see her not wanting to still be the first female President. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/19 "2012-11-19T00:29:34Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Mostly because she’ll be 69 by the 2016 election. (Biden will be 73, BTW.) I think we’re in an era of young, fresh politicians in which the older faces will be slowly exiting the stage. T. Maybe. So- who can challenge her? I have heard nothing. Edwards? 😛 Hilary is the one to beat. Her name tops every list. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320/20 "2012-11-19T01:28:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Maybe. So- who can challenge her? I have heard nothing. Edwards? 😛 > > Hilary is the one to beat. Her name tops every list. Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Brian Schweitzer … It’s a mistake to assume that the candidate 4 years down the road will be a really big name to the general public today, or one of the major past primary candidates. Instead, look for up and comers within the party who either didn’t run before, or dropped out way early, obviously “just testing the waters”. Andrew Cuomo is a bigger name who is conceivable. There’s a very long list of possible candidates at this point who have some chance. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-leaving-her-job/641320.md?page=2)