GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Stabroek News – It is something of a truism of United States politics that a president makes his own foreign policy. Yet instances arise that project American secretaries of state into a position of obvious influence that induce the citizens of that country, as well as of other countries, to make a distinction between the thinking of the president and that of the secretary of state. Such would appear to have been the case of the relationship between Dwight Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles, even though that President’s experience had indicated a certain strength in strategic thinking that could sometimes mark his policies as his own. It was the case, too, of the relationship between Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, even though it was recognized that Nixon had certain clear ideas about operating in the Cold War period, which he had developed during his period of Vice-President under Eisenhower. When Hillary Clinton was appointed Secretary of State by President Obama, she came into office with a certain experience born not only of proximity to Bill Clinton, but also as a recent member of the American Senate, well respected for her conduct during her tenure there.
