Thaindian News

Washington, Apr 3 (ANI): US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has received the highest approval ratings and beats other top members of the administration, including President Barack Obama, says a Gallup poll.

Gallup reported Clinton’s favorable rating as being 66 percent, up from 61 percent in last year and said this was her highest rating to date while serving in the Obama administration.

She beats other top members of the administration, including Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who received 54 percent, 46 percent, and 52 percent ratings, respectively, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

“Clinton’s popularity may be partly due to the nature of the secretary of state position, which is somewhat above the fray of partisan politics and focused on defending US interests globally,” writes Lydia Saad of the Gallup polling organization.

Saad also pointed out that Clinton is seen in a favorable light by 45 percent of those who separately say they disapprove the job Obama is doing as president.

Clinton’s highest rating ever, 67 percent, came just after her husband was impeached amidst the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

After her entry into politics as a New York senator, Clinton’s approval rating dropped into the 40s. Throughout her term and the 2008 election, her approval hovered between the mid-40s and mid-50s, and then began a steady rise.

Clinton has ruled out serving another term as secretary of state in an Obama administration, fueling speculation about presidential ambitions for 2016.

“While Clinton’s broad appeal would seem an auspicious foundation for seeking the White House, the presidential track record of secretaries of state is not”, “the last time a former secretary of state won the presidency was James Buchanan in 1856,” writes Saad. (ANI)