WASHINGTON: Tough-talking US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s most favorite choice for the post of Secretary of State, abruptly withdrew from the race after a stand off with the Republican Senators who had vowed to defeat her nomination.
The sudden withdrawal of the 48-year-old career diplomat left Massachusetts Senator John Kerry the likely choice as the replacement for outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Rice withdrew from the race when it became clear that she would face stiff opposition from the Republican Senators during the confirmation process.
Obama has accepted her decision.
“I spoke to Ambassador Susan Rice, and accepted her decision to remove her name from consideration for Secretary of State,” Obama said in a statement.
Rice had become the face of the Obama administration for the bungled account of happenings in the Libyan coastal city of Benghazi where on September 11 four Americans, including the US ambassador, were killed in what is now known to have been a terrorist attack.
Republican Senators were gunning for a statement she gave to television networks that the attack was a result of an “instant mob violence” and not a terrorist attack.
In a letter to Obama conveying her decision to withdraw from contest, Rice said the confirmation process would be “lengthy, disruptive and costly.”
Referring to opposition to her candidature from the Republicans, the diplomat said that a “trade-off is simply not worth it to our country.”
Obama made it clear that Rice would remain in his inner circle, saying he was grateful that she would stay on as “our ambassador at the UN and a key member of my cabinet and national security team.”
In her letter, Rice also said: “the position of Secretary of State should never be politicized.” -PTI
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