Hillary Clinton and the State Dept

WASHINGTON — When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped back to center stage here on Wednesday to present an ambitious blueprint for America’s role in the world, the State Department billed it as a major foreign policy address.

But with its muscular tone and sweeping scope, it was also an effort to recapture the limelight after a period in which Mrs. Clinton has nursed both a broken elbow and the perception that the State Department has lost influence to an assertive White House.

Declaring that “no nation can meet the world’s challenges alone,” Mrs. Clinton said the United States was pursuing multifront diplomacy with a host of countries and other players, even adversaries like Iran. She condemned Tehran for cracking down on postelection protests, saying its actions were “deplorable and unacceptable.”

For More Information:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/us/politics/16clinton.html?em