US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has withdrawn from the race of Secretary of State, considering the stiff opposition she would have faced from the Republican Senators during the confirmation process.

The US President Barack Obama has accepted her decision.

“I spoke to Ambassador Susan Rice, and accepted her decision to remove her name from consideration for Secretary of State,” Obama said in a statement yesterday.

Rice was said to be Obama’s most favourite choice for the nation’s top diplomatic post. Hillary Clinton, the current Secretary of State, has announced that she would leave the position at the end of Obama’s first term next month.

“I am highly honoured to be considered by you for appointment as Secretary of State. I am fully confident that I could serve our country ably and effectively in that role.

However, if nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly — to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to Obama.

“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country,” Rice, who currently has been given a Cabinet-level rank in her capacity as the US Ambassador to the UN, said in her letter dated December 13.

“It is far more important that we devote precious legislative hours and energy to enacting your core goals, including comprehensive immigration reform, balanced deficit reduction, job creation, and maintaining a robust national defence and effective US global leadership. Therefore, I respectfully submit that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time,” Rice said.

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