I say yes because of two reasons - Cuba, and the Iran deal. They have been a very cohesive team when dealing with our foreign policy issues. When I have time, I hope to put a more well researched diary. But in the wake of the Cuba news today, I just wanted to put a diary to commemorate this duo's tenure. Feedback from readers welcome regarding their opinions of this duo versus other duos.
Better than Clinton - Albright's very solid tenure?
Better than Nixon - Kissinger. Inspite of their status quo busting China policy, Kissinger was a piece of scum and it showed in some of his dealings.
So I hereby take Ford-Kissinger out of the running too because I despise Kissinger that much even if personally don't have any dislike for Ford.
Better than Reagan- George P Schultz overseeing the final nail in the coffin for the USSR and Eastern Europe? Yes, they did have those other controversies that make Libya seem so trivial by comparison(even if conservatives are trying their best to make this seem like a momentous blunder).
Better than Carter - Cyrus Vance: Well, Cyrus Vance was by many accounts, a good man of integrity. Resigned in protest over Carter's Iran hostage crisis handling. So Carter, as well intentioned as he is, makes this a non contender in the best duo race even if he did have the Camp David agreement come to fruition on his watch.
Better than Lyndon Johnson and whoever. yeah. (That whoever was Dean Rusk, a guy who wasn't that much of an asset to President Kennedy). Lyndon Johnson did some good things domestically. But there was that Vietnam thing. And no real major foreign policy achievements as LBJ was preoccupied with a lot of domestic issues.
And better than the Obama-Hillary partnership? I say yes. I don't think Hillary would have the guts to be one voice with Obama in fighting back the neocons and AIPAC lobbyists pushing Bibi's agenda at Obama's expense. Hillary was very solid in her tenure and if she does indeed become President, I think this experience will help her become a better President. Osama was killed during that tenure and politics with Pakistan were handled well not allowing Pakistan to manipulate the US too much for easy money. But there was something about Hillary that made me just have that feeling that she wouldn't embrace an Obama agenda fully if she felt like it might hurt her politically later on. I know that's not fair to Hillary as I wasn't personally there, but that's what is going on in my mind.
So back To Obama - Kerry. I have not been a big fan of Obama's achievements domestically and his passivity in dealing with fellow democrats indiscipline in moving forward important progressive agendas. I also think he was overly parsing words like Islamic fundamentalism when talking about ISIS when we have no problem calling anti abortionists locally as christian fundamentalists. As when it comes to the middle east, while I think he has done a job better than the other Presidents we have had as this has been a blind spot for many US Presidents, I still think he could have done a bit better.
But regardless of what i just said, I rank this duo the best in the last 50 years.
The Cuba deal took guts. Obama just ended thousands of time wasting conversations on Cuba and we can move on to other issues that America needs to tend to. Castro is a dictator, sure. But is he among the very worst? Hardly and this is coming from someone who has no love for this guy.
I dont think Hillary, Bush, Clinton would have completed the Iran deal in the climate we have now on capitol hill. What Obama and Kerry did was groundbreaking for US foreign policy. They completely ignored Bibi's lobbying and bullying to scuttle this deal.
Is Obama perfect on foreign policy? No. But which President has been? He has successfully prevented troops buildups in the middle east when there has been enormous pressure to do the easy thing and go with DC conventional wisdom. He has not had good solutions for ISIS and he admits it which is half the battle right there as he does not feel compelled to do something foolish, and expensive just to show he knows something.