Book Excerpt: Obama 'Not Begging' Hillary to Take Secretary of State Job

Former Newsweek reporter Richard Wolffe's new book, "Renegade: The Making of a President," details some uncomfortable behind-the scenes wrangling about the selection of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, according to an excerpt on Huffington Post.

The excerpt describes a candidate eager to have Clinton on his team, but not willing to jump through hoops. On retiring Clinton's campaign debt:

"I'm not begging her to take this job," Obama told his senior aides. "If she wants it, I could help. But I'm not willing to go out in these difficult economic times to do a flashy fundraiser in California."

Obama made the decision to pick Clinton while the bitter primary battle still raged on, and over the objections of his staff::

"I don't hold grudges," he told his aides. "I don't worry about the past. I'm concerned about what happens now. If she can help me and Bill Clinton isn't too much of a liability, we should seriously look at this."

Although the excerpt contains lots of praise for Hillary Clinton from Obama, it's the juicy quotes that will get the most play and revive dormant water-cooler debates.

I'm a little bit surprised to learn that the hard feelings from the primary campaign ran so deep. At the time, I thought that questions about Obama's and Clinton's ability to put the past behind them and work together were mainly a construct of their ardent supporters and a drama-loving media.

Still, as they say, all's well that ends well:

Several weeks into the administration, even Clinton's internal critics believed the relationship was a success. "They have both worked really hard at it," said one senior White House official. "There's a natural affinity and respect that ironically grew out of being opponents. You get to know someone really well after all that."

Wolffe's book hits shelves Tuesday.

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