So Clinton has become our 67th Secretary of State. How are people reacting to President Obama's selection of his fiercest nemesis for a chief position in his cabinet?

People seem to have strong opinions. A Fox News article on this topic is entitled "Clinton Proclaims Start of 'New Era' on First Day at State Department; Secretrary of State Hillary Clinton took charge of the State Department Thursday, declaring the start of a new era of robust US diplomacy" while a Yahoo! article on the same topic is simply entitled "Clinton vows robust diplomacy as state dept chief". So it looks like the newly anointed 'Secretary Clinton' is ready to get to work.

The first sentence of both articles is "Hillary Rodham Clinton took charge of the State Department Thursday, proclaiming the start of a new era of robust US diplomacy to tackle the world's crises and improve America's standing abroad". This is a two-headed monster: we are engaged in two seemingly endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is quiet for now, but violence could erupt and things could get out of hand at any time.

Clinton started by saying that "I believe with all of my heart that this is a new era for America". This reinforces how passionate Clinton is about her new position as Secretary of State. The key phrase is "all of my heart".

"This is going to be a challenging time and it will require 21st century tools and solutions to meet our problems and seize our opportunities". So it's now clear that both Obama and Clinton acknowledge the fact that the road ahead will have a number of obstacles. However, Clinton also mentions using  "21st century tools and solutions", a phrase that former President Bush also used so we will have to wait and see how she goes about in achieving this. I'm going to be asking a lot of you. I want you to think outside the proverbial box. I want you to give me the best advice you can". Clinton is echoing Obama's sentiment here that his principal officials will be playing a critical role in the decisions he makes and therefore, the importance of the roles of the staff of these principal officials cannot be overstated.  

Furthermore, Clinton reminded everyone that "I want you to understand (that) there is nothing that I welcome more than a good debate and the kind of dialogue that will make us better. We cannot be our best if we don't demand the best from ourselves and from each other". So Clinton is asking for/requesting CONSTRUCTIVE criticism where necessary.

"At the heart of smart power are smart people and you are those people. And you are the ones that we will count on for the advice and counsel, the expertise and the experience to make good on the promises of this new administration". Here Clinton in common with Obama is essentially telling her staff that 'We're all in this together'.

"This is a team and you are the members of that team. We are not any longer going to tolerate the kind of devisiveness that has paralyzed and undermined our ability to get things done for America". Clinton has adopted Obama's rhetoric of slamming the Bush administration as being 'devisive'. Perhaps she is also thinking about some of the things that she had said earlier during the Democratic primary campaign about President Obama that she now regrets, but Clinton now seems to be ready to tackle the challenges in front of her. 

Finally, Clinton promised "a great adventure. We'll have some ups and downs. We'll face some obstacles along the way. But be of good cheer and be of strong heart and do not grow weary as we attempt to do good on behalf of our country and the world...And now, ladies and gentlemen let's get to work". "...let's get to work" makes it sound like Clinton is still in charge...and she is, although on a smaller scale. Clinton may now be in charge of less, but her work now is more important than ever before. Between 2002 and early 2009, she was working on Capitol Hill on behalf of New York. Now, many of her decisions will be important to the world.