Obama to name Clinton secretary of state on Monday

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-30 14:01

President-elect Barack Obama planned to nominate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as his secretary of state on Monday, transforming a once-bitter political rivalry into a high-level strategic and diplomatic partnership.

In this Nov. 21, 2008 file photo, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., attends a memorial ceremony for the late Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll in the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg, Pa. Democratic officials say President-elect Barack Obama will nominate Sen. Hillary to be his secretary of state on Monday. [Agencies]

Obama will name the New York senator to his national security team at a news conference in Chicago, Democratic officials said Saturday. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly for the transition team.

To clear the way for his wife to take the job, former President Bill Clinton agreed to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation. He'll also refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference, and will cease holding C.G.I. meetings overseas.

Bill Clinton's business deals and global charitable endeavors were expected to create problems for the former first lady's nomination. But in negotiations with the Obama transition team, the former president agreed to several measures designed to bring transparency to his post-presidential work.

The Clinton pick was an extraordinary gesture of goodwill after a year in which Clinton and Obama competed for the Democratic nomination in a long, bitter primary battle.