President-elect Barack Obama has named his one-time political rival, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, as his secretary of state. Clinton is expected to resign her Senate seat to prepare to lead U.S. foreign policy in the latest chapter in her long career. VOA’s Deborah Tate reports from Washington.

Many observers are praising President-elect Obama’s choice for secretary of state.

They said Hillary Clinton comes to the job with name recognition and a familiarity with foreign policy as a result of her service on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were not always in agreement on foreign policy during their bitter campaign fight for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination — as was evident during their debate in February:

OBAMA: “On what I believe was the single most important foreign policy decision of this generation — whether or not to go to war in Iraq — I believe I showed the judgment of a commander in chief. And I think that Senator Clinton was wrong in her judgments on that.” Source