Hillary

NEW YORK - As an undergraduate art major at Columbia University, Beau Willimon, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of "The Ides of March" and creator of the much-hyped new Netflix series "House of Cards," never would have guessed he'd build a career writing about politics. "I was one of those guys that had paint all splattered over my jeans," says the 35-year-old between hearty gulps of coffee at the Smile, a fashionably rustic restaurant in NoHo. FOR THE RECORD: "House of Cards": In the Feb. 12 Calendar section, an article about "House of Cards" creator Beau Willimon misspelled the first name of Kevin Spacey's character in the Netflix series, Francis Underwood, as Frances.

Re "Stellar, but short of spectacular," Jan. 28 Being of the opinion that Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the best secretaries of State, I was completely taken aback by the article's finding that although she is very well thought of by the American public and the president, many so-called foreign policy experts don't think too highly of her performance. Why should anyone pay attention to what these "experts" think? It happens that she has been dealing with many difficult and diverse problems, and she has come through very well.

Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview Tuesday that she will write another memoir after leaving her post as secretary of State. She was responding to a question from Sahara Sawar, a British Pakistani from Dubai. In an awkwardly named "Global Townterview," Clinton, who was in Washington, responded to questions from around the world via video linkups. Clinton has participated in almost 60 Global Townterviews during her four-year tenure at the State Department. Friday will be Clinton's final day as secretary of State.

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to confirm Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) as secretary of State, filling a crucial national security spot in President Obama's second-term Cabinet. Kerry, who ran for president as the Democratic nominee in 2004, will replace Hillary Rodham Clinton, who steps down as America's top diplomat Friday. After the 94-3 vote, Kerry submitted a letter of resignation, effective Friday, to give up the Senate seat he has held since 1985. He will take the oath of office in a private ceremony.

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton leaves her post as secretary of State next month with a split judgment on her diplomatic career: She's won rave reviews from the American public and the president, but maybe not a prominent place in the diplomatic history books. Job approval ratings for the former senator and first lady are at stratospheric levels, suggesting that her four years as chief U.S. diplomat could be an important asset if she runs for president in 2016. But scholars and diplomatic insiders say she has never dominated issues of war and peace in the manner of predecessors Dean Acheson or Henry Kissinger, or laid down an enduring diplomatic doctrine.

President Obama lavished praise on his one-time political rival and outgoing secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as a seasoned professional diplomat who became a good friend and advisor. “I think Hillary will go down as one of the finest secretary of States we've had,” Obama said in a joint interview aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes. " “By the time Hillary joined the administration, I felt very confident and comfortable in our working relationship. What did evolve was a friendship, as opposed to just a professional relationship.

When Hillary Clinton went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Republicans opened their bags of overly ripe conspiracy theories and moldering fruitcake ideas and tossed everything at her. Every shot missed. Republican senators and congressmen on the foreign affairs committees of both houses had insisted that the departing secretary of State come in for a full day of hearings about the deadly terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Some of them must have thought this was a great chance to do preemptive damage to the most popular choice for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

Watching Hillary Rodham Clinton's exit from the State Department is a little like watching the season-ending episode of a popular television series that may not come back the next year. As loyal as its viewers are, there are always wary network executives and even exhausted writers and producers who'd just as soon let it go. It's a good policy, after all, to leave your audience wanting more. Clinton's finale could hardly have been more dramatic. After falling ill with a stomach virus in early December, she fainted, sustained a concussion and landed in a hospital with a blood clot between her brain and skull.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was released from a New York hospital Wednesday evening after doctors treated her for a blood clot that had formed behind her ear. "Her medical team advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts, and they are confident she will make a full recovery," Philippe Reines, deputy assistant secretary of State, said in a statement. "She's eager to get back to the office, and we will keep you updated on her schedule as it becomes clearer in the coming days.

WASHINGTON - The blood clot that led to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's hospitalization on Sunday is lodged in a vein behind her right ear, her doctors disclosed in a statement late Monday. The doctors said the clot, called a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis, was discovered on Sunday when Clinton underwent an MRI as a “routine follow-up” to the treatment she has been receiving for a concussion. The vein runs between the brain and skull. Drs. Lisa Bardack with the Mt. Kisco Medical Group and Gigi El-Bayoumi at The George Washington University Hospital said in their statement that the clot is being treated with blood thinners.