Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee overwhelmingly approved the nomination of Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state.

It has been a long, sometimes very rough and very emotional journey for Senator Clinton.  Many of us have followed her campaign or supported it from the beginning or even before.  I myself flew in from Mexico to hear Bill Clinton speak in San Antonio, Texas when he was still governor of Arkansas.  The weather had him socked in at Dallas so he didn’t make the flight down and didn’t speak, although I heard and met him many times later.  The person who stepped in for him and did speak that afternoon was Hillary Clinton.  And when she spoke, my friend and I looked at each other, our collective jaws dropping, and said, almost in unison: “She should be president.”

Well, she didn’t make it.  This time.  And maybe she won’t ever be president.  But  she has certainly set a shining example of grit, resolve and perseverance…. all of which women need in spades…. in addition to her extraordinary brain power and what Hemingway once called “grace under pressure.”

I, along with many others, believe she will be an outstanding secretary of state who will make us all proud, and put American back into a position of respect and collaboration abroad.

Clinton told the assembled lawmakers that the extraordinary times present an extraordinary opportunity.

“I think this could be one of the golden eras of the history of the Senate,” she said. “This could be a time when people will look back and say, you know, you never can count America out. Whenever the chips are down, we always rise to the occasion.”

And so, we’ve learned, does Hillary Clinton, soon to be Secretary of State Clinton.