Lee Hamilton Ducked Obama and Clinton's Offer for No. 2 at State

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.

Sure, it was nice that President-elect Obama and Hillary Clinton, his pick to be America's top diplomat, asked Lee Hamilton to be No. 2 at the State Department. But Whispers has learned that the former prominent Indiana congressman who heads the prestigious Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars ducked the offer. Associates say he doesn't want to travel as much as the job would require, though there are indications that he may be used by Obama as a special Middle East envoy.