Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State was twice concluded with a recommendation of no charges, a recommendation that was followed by the Justice Department, but according to Clinton herself, the emails matter and the way in which it would not go away contributed to her electoral defeat. Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served as the 67th United States Secretary of State, under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2013, overseeing the department that conducted the Foreign policy of Barack Obama. She was preceded in office by Condoleezza Rice, and succeeded by John Kerry. She is also the only former First Lady of
Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State were not publicly disclosed by the Clinton Foundation or the State Department, despite a prior agreement to do so, in part due to taking advantage of the donations going through a Canadian affiliate of the Foundation. A FactCheck.org analysis stated that while the reports raised "legitimate questions about the Clinton Foundation and its donations," the reports "presented no evidence that the donations influenced Clinton's official actions." Asked about the issue in June 2015, the former secretary said of the State Department's role in the approval, "There were nine government agencies that that had to sign off on that deal. I