By Laura Ingraham
Today is Hillary Clinton's first day really as a private citizen. And "Newsweek" marks the occasion by declaring the former Secretary of State the most powerful woman in American history. The article kind of reads more like a piece of campaign literature than a serious examination of her record and her accomplishments.
Certainly, look, Mrs. Clinton is highly intelligent, she is a global celebrity and she reached a level that few men, let alone women ever reach in our country. Yet titles don't tell the entire story. The Benghazi attack, a failed reset with Russia; a more powerful and emboldened China. An Iran closer to a nuclear weapon, Islamic terrorists fanning out across North America? Simply put, under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the U.S. has been unwilling to lead. And this has left a huge vacuum on the world stage.
In a recent assessment of Secretary Clinton's tenure, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution wrote "Even an admirer such as myself must acknowledge that few big problems were solved on her watch. Few big victories achieved." Mrs. Clinton's work at the State Department should be judged on whether she's left America's foreign policy in stronger or weaker position.
The fact is today most experts think the future lies more with China than the U.S. Now it's not all Mrs. Clinton's fault, but the fact is we just don't have the influence that we used to have around the world. From Syria to Mali, we have led from behind. So in effect, the former Secretary of State has helped manage our decline in what looks increasingly like a post American world.
And that's "The Memo."
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