December 13th, 2012
03:51 PM ET
10 years ago
Susan Rice withdraws from consideration as secretary of state
(CNN) - Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who drew heavy criticism from Republicans over her statements after the September attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission, withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of state on Thursday.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, she said "the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive, and costly - to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities. That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country."
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THANK GOD. Now the President has an easy decision...even though it should have been easy all along. I think the GOP's reaction to Benghazi has been utterly disgraceful and their treatment of Rice is an embarrassment...but she's still not the right choice for Sec'y of State. Kerry is clearly the right choice. I find it baffling that Obama needed any help coming to that conclusion. I certainly hope it's not because he's worried about who will get Kerry's seat in the Senate. I'm from Massachusetts and I love Kerry as my Senator, but who my state sends to the Senate is not and should not be the President's concern. He should worry about nominating the best candidate, and nothing else.
Besides: the seat is relatively safe. The voters here learned their lesson with Brown, they're NOT going to let that happen again.
To Robert: The GOP was quite happy with the last black lady named Rice at the State Department. Calling someone incompetent is not racist. Picking someone who is not qualified to fill a position because of their race is.
Why breaking news??? we knew this was going to happen...
All of you posters who feel that she "lied" to the American people: I want to know exactly how you protested when Bush/Cheney/Rice "Lied" about Iraq, causing over 160,000 deaths and wasting a trillion dollars. Where was your indignation then? Did you write letter to the editor? Did you call your congressmen? Protest in the streets?
She stood with Obama to the end..... Her end.
I am sickened by this nasty turn of events, manufactured by right wing media hyperbole.
She would've made an amazingly qualified, resourceful Secy of State, given her credentials + experience.
What a tragedy.
well FINALLY I guess the far right can claim some sort of victory over Obama after all these losses. In a way I don't blame her because it really wasn't worth it.
That's too bad. I would have stayed and get nominated just to be a pain in the side of mcnasty, ms lindsay and their beaten down congress wife ayotte.
This Rice is more than qualified unlike the other rice of the shrub's administration who,really I'd knowing full well there were no WMDs sent hundreds, thousands of Americans and Iraqi cirizens tomtheir deaths!
Did anyone get the number of that bus that Obama through her under?
Anonymous: "This is great news!" Why, exactly? Because it embarrasses Obama? And Mike? Until the Reagan dabacle in Beirut in 1983 enters the conversation, along with the numerous deaths of State Dept personell during the Bush administration, and the House's REFUSAL to fund security at the embassies, don't even begin to discuss Obama and Benghazi.
Hallelujah!!! good riddance. Now if only Obama resigned from the presidency and saved us all from the whole process of impeaching him for the benghazi debacle.
Let's see Deval Patrick try for the Kerry-vacated Senate seat - the knowing Bay State and House GOP are all smiles
Well, in that case, nominate Condi Rice.
She was going to have to testify under oath at her confirmation hearings, and Obama di dnot want the truth to be told about his coverup and campaign ploy with her. It is Obama who pulled the plug on her --so he could save face
She is smarter than I thought she was.....
I think its terrible that John McCain and his cronies berated this woman until she finally withdrew. They put all the blame for the terrible embassy situation solely on her. Mcain never did get over loosing to Obama and he'd find fault with his own mother.
Good riddance!
McCain picked and praised Palin. McCain picked on and defamed Rice. McCain has consistently shown extremely poor judgement time and again. He is a very poor judge of character. McCain is old and senile.
Way for McCain to prove that he is still relevant
Why Mss Rice withdraws from secretary of State consideration? I think she feels republicans don't like her because of race, which is actually true, but me personally I don't want her for that position because of her short experience in that category. I think someone like John Kerry would an awesome choice!
You would think that the GOP Congress would have learned their lesson after the "Warren" rejection for the Consumer Protection Agency, blew up in their faces. Perhaps this too may come back to haught them, especially if she is someone's future VP pick!
Smart woman but friendly with dictators, I am glad she withdrows.
It's shameful the way that some Republicans publicly attacked Susan Rice and openly lauded John Kerry for the position of Secretary of State, in order to open up his Senate seat and give Scott Brown another shot at it. But of course, this seems to be the way that the GOP operates these days.
Whhhhhy .. So sad
The Media have no clue what the GOP knows