--- title: Mitt Romney: Hillary Clinton Said to Take Secretary of State description: Mitt Romney said Hillary Clinton encouraged him to take Secretary of State position, which he eventually was not offered canonical: https://time.com/4813499/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-09T21:39:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:22:05.902Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mitt Romney Says Hillary Clinton Urged Him to Take Secretary of State Position og:description: "I would've accepted the job" og:url: https://time.com/4813499/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e90d3d28825c662/6988d11d0a4a2231539ce904/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: President-Elect Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower In New York og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mitt Romney Says Hillary Clinton Urged Him to Take Secretary of State Position twitter:description: "I would've accepted the job" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e90d3d28825c662/6988d11d0a4a2231539ce904/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mitt Romney Says Hillary Clinton Urged Him to Take Secretary of State Job > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 9, 2017 9:39 PM UTC  Mitt Romney speaks to reporters after dining with President-elect Donald Trump at Jean Georges restaurant, November 29, 2016 in New York City. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters after dining with President-elect Donald Trump at Jean Georges restaurant, November 29, 2016 in New York City. Drew Angerer--Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 9, 2017 9:39 PM UTC Mitt Romney, former Republican presidential nominee who was [under consideration for Secretary of State](http://time.com/4577946/mitt-romney-secretary-of-state-donald-trump/) under President Trump, said on Friday that Hillary Clinton encouraged him to take the position. Romney revealed during his annual political summit in Park City, Utah that he’d spoken to [Clinton](http://time.com/4809312/watch-live-hillary-clinton-medgar-evers-commencement/) about taking on the role. The former Democratic presidential nominee was Secretary of State during President Barack Obama’s first term in office. “I would’ve accepted the job,” the former Massachusetts governor said. > [](https://twitter.com/TeddyDavisCNN/status/873268886648573954) Romney was in talks to be Trump’s Secretary of State before the president [selected](http://time.com/4803766/paris-agreement-rex-tillerson/) former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Romney, a harsh critic of Trump, clashed with the president during the 2016 election, calling a “con man” and a “fake.” Trump said Romney was a “choke artist” for losing the 2012 election to Obama. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4813499/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4813499/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state/"},"headline":"Mitt Romney Says Hillary Clinton Urged Him to Take Secretary of State Job","datePublished":"2017-06-09T21:39:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:22:05.902Z","description":"\"I would've accepted the job\"","url":"https://time.com/4813499/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e90d3d28825c662/6988d11d0a4a2231539ce904/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e90d3d28825c662/6988d11d0a4a2231539ce904/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President-Elect Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower In New York","caption":"President-Elect Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower In New York","creditText":"Drew Angerer--Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4813499/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state/","name":"Mitt Romney Says Hillary Clinton Urged Him to Take Secretary of State Job"}}]}] ```