Hillary Clinton, Obama's road warrior, snags 'most traveled' title
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on the road 165 days during her first two years in office, besting previous title holder Condoleezza Rice by two days. Why the job now requires so much travel.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton boards her plane for a trip to Haiti at Andrews AFB, Md., on Jan. 30. Clinton logged 165 travel days over 40 trips by the end of January, she is now the most-traveled top US diplomat for the first two years in office.
Alex Brandon/AP
Washington
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s if-this-is-Thursday-it-must-be-Doha work schedule has earned her a distinction that most airline-miles champions could only dream of: She is now the most-traveled top US diplomat for the first two years in office.
With a January that included a trip to a presidential inauguration in Brazil, a quick hop over to Haiti, and, most significantly (in terms of travel), a six-day, 16,500-mile tour through the Persian Gulf, Secretary Clinton squeaked past former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for most-traveled bragging rights.
That's not to say Dr. Rice was exactly a Washington-tethered couch potato. While Clinton logged 165 travel days over 40 trips by the end of January – her two-year anniversary in office – Rice had tallied 163 travel days over 39 trips.
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In fact, Rice still holds the travel crown by some measures.
State Department archives show that Rice traveled 489,102 miles in 2005 and 2006, her first two years on the job, for a total of 1,026 travel hours. According to Clinton’s official State Department web page, Clinton as of Monday – she returned Sunday from a quick jaunt to Munich – has logged 465,426 miles and 1,010 travel hours on the job so far. (The apples-to-apples, days-of-travel comparison that won Clinton her prize were compiled by Washington Post foreign affairs writer Glenn Kessler.)
