Own an issue: You want to be a truly consequential secretary of state? Own an issue that normal human beings regard as really hard and significant -- and make it better. This is only partly related to ego. It also has to do with efficiency and results. The challenges America faces require full time effort. They can only be solved by a team of professionals -- overseen by you.
This is the nature of your new job. A bold and successful foreign policy can't be run out of the National Security Council or by the president's political advisors, nor should the State Department's careerists control it. You and the national security advisor need to work closely together to make sure the right balance is found.
Don't misunderstand. The president is the boss. But you need to make clear what you want to own relatively early. Secretaries of state -- the really good ones -- aren't just implementers. They often fashion the strategy, sell it to the White House, and run with it -- coordinating with the Big Boss and his team every step of the way. You run the traps and shoulder the risks and responsibilities. If it's a negotiation, then you do the legwork, bring the president in when necessary, and set the table for him to close, as required.
Get a team to help you: You're going to need a really good team of professionals to help you. Don't shut the State Department out -- use your ambassadors and the assistant secretaries for serious work. But don't become a prisoner to the building either. Draw outsiders whom you trust from the Hill into the system, and don't be afraid to ask the universities and think tanks for their best and brightest. Don't get caught up on political affiliation: Republican vs. Democrat isn't the dividing line here. Smart vs. dumb is.
And most important, let your advisors debate openly -- if at times noisily -- in front of you. Encourage it. Don't let any single individual control the information flow. In the end, it's the adult supervision you exercise -- the intuitive capacity to make the right decisions -- that's the key to having a chance to succeed.
I don't envy you. You're not Henry Kissinger, who served under a president who was preoccupied with domestic scandal and who really did -- however grudgingly and jealously -- respect and admire his top diplomat's brilliance. Nor are you James Baker, who had a closer personal bond with his president than any of his predecessors.
And that's your main challenge. You won't get the diplomatic breakthroughs unless you can achieve a breakthrough of your own with the president, creating a close bond with a guy who thinks he's a lot smarter than you and who's used to running everything.
If you can get him to stop dominating and start delegating, and if the world cooperates a little, who knows? While the odds may be against it, you might even be headed for the Secretary of State Hall of Fame.
If not, don't worry. You'll have a fine time, and probably do some good. But you might as well hang a closed for the season sign on any chance of doing bold and historic diplomacy -- let alone emerging a secretary of state we'll all want to remember.
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