Once, presidents routinely selected prominent politicians -- often their party's other leading light -- as their secretary of State. In the 19th century, the Senate's "Great Triumvirate" of Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, and Henry Clay all held the job at one point; Woodrow Wilson tapped William Jennings Bryan, a three-time (losing) Democratic presidential nominee. But that tradition has faded. Since 1948, only two secretaries had won elected office before serving: Christian Herter (for Dwight Eisenhower) and Edmund Muskie (for Jimmy Carter). And each was only a graying caretaker for a waning administration.
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