Holbrooke lobbying to be secretary of State

But now he faces a diplomatic test like none before: persuading President-elect Barack Obama and his team to give him the prized job of secretary of State.

Holbrooke is among those under consideration to be America's top diplomat. Known as the "Bulldozer" and the "Raging Bull," Holbrooke -- a 34-year foreign service veteran -- has a negotiating tenacity that is beyond dispute.

But this most recent task is a challenge because of Holbrooke's history of conflict with core members of Obama's foreign policy team. In addition, some liberal Obama supporters, fretting that leading candidates for his Cabinet seem too centrist, believe Holbrooke is too much of a hawk for the job.

The depth of the conflict was underscored when Holbrooke's prospects improved last summer, said close campaign observers. Some of Obama's advisors "began saying: 'We've got to stop Holbrooke! We've got to stop Holbrooke!' " said Steve Clemons, a foreign policy analyst at the New America Foundation. "He's the guy they fear the most."

Holbrooke was among Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's inner circle during her presidential campaign. Last year, as Obama began assembling his own foreign policy team, Holbrooke called members of the group and others thinking of joining and warned them that it could hurt their future job prospects, said several advisors.

Holbrooke already had strained ties with the senior member of Obama's team, Anthony Lake, former national security advisor to President Clinton. The two men had been best friends but had a falling out in the early days of the Clinton administration, when the new president made Lake his national security advisor and gave Holbrooke the lesser post of ambassador to Germany.

Holbrooke also had clashed with a second member of Obama's original foreign policy triumvirate, former deputy national security advisor Susan Rice. Rice believed Holbrooke had a condescending view toward her in the Clinton years, say people who know the pair.

Holbrooke didn't respond to requests for comment. The Obama team has asked advisors not to talk to the press during the transition period, so those who spoke did so on condition of anonymity.