Clinton ranked 2nd-most powerful woman in Washington

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sept. 9, 2009   Fortune magazine just ranked Secretary Clinton as the No. 2 most powerful woman in Washington, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (The magazine says it excluded first lady Michelle Obama because she “exercises her own brand of influence.”) Clinton’s No. 2 position makes a lot more sense than ...

By , copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009-2016 and was an assistant editor from 2007-2009.
581007_090914_ClintonObamaHug2.jpg
581007_090914_ClintonObamaHug2.jpg

 

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sept. 9, 2009

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sept. 9, 2009
 

Fortune magazine just ranked Secretary Clinton as the No. 2 most powerful woman in Washington, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (The magazine says it excluded first lady Michelle Obama because she “exercises her own brand of influence.”) Clinton’s No. 2 position makes a lot more sense than her No. 36 ranking on Forbes’ list last month of the 100 most powerful women in the world.

Fortune did bring up the discussed-to-death topic of “Clinton in the shadows,” stating: “As she travels the globe, wielding clout with America’s trading partners, many question how strong a voice she has in Obama’s inner circle.” I’m sick of blogging on this topic! Clinton and President Obama get along very well. Above, the two hug right before Obama’s health-care speech last Wednesday, Sept. 9. And look at the photo below of Thursday’s cabinet meeting — the meeting of the “inner circle.” Clinton is literally Obama’s right-hand woman (albeit Obama is left-handed).

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, cabinet meeting, Sept. 11, 2009

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, cabinet meeting, Sept. 11, 2009

Photos, top to bottom: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images, Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009-2016 and was an assistant editor from 2007-2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

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