CLEMSON — Since President-elect Barack Obama rounded out his national security team on Monday with the announcement of Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

Jim Miller, associate professor of history and geography at Clemson University, said he thinks that her representation of the White House and the Obama administration will be a positively powerful one.

“She will be very effective,” he said. “With her experience as first lady during her travels in the Middle East and Northern Africa, she’s built up a legacy of good will, and I think that will prove beneficial.”

In fact, the gender role shouldn’t pose an issue at all, Miller said. Instead, her strong personality should be admired as many Islamic countries have appointed women as prime ministers already.

The problem, however, could stem from the fact that Clinton always has her own plan, Miller said.

“Barack needs to make a clear-cut mandate with her,” he said. “She doesn’t have say over foreign policy; he does. It’s her job to stand behind the policies of Obama and represent the most important position in the American cabinet with poise. I think she will.”

Miller, who lived in the Middle East and served as a Foreign Service Officer for the State Department, said he knows that the knowledge in the White House is immense.

“It’s a picture of what good can be done in America,” he said. “But Hillary needs to be prepared. She said in her campaign that there will be ‘a mess to clean up in January.’ Well, now she needs to get her tools ready again and plan to use those tools in a more subtle way.”

And as far as President Bill Clinton is concerned, Miller agrees that he will have to do more of the same.

“He’s a bull of a man,” he said. “But by the time Super Tuesday rolled around this year, he was walking with his tail between his legs. If they can tone it down together, they will make for a powerful entity in the Obama administration.”