Speculations on Obama’s Next Secretary of StatePresident Barack Obama managed to win another term and now there are speculations as to who will be the next secretary of state that will replace Hillary Clinton. She has been one of the most popular members of the Cabinet and announced that she will step down when the current presidential term concluded at the end of January.

Some of the potential replacements are Democratic Senator John Kerry, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, and National Security advisor Tom Donilon. All of them have disadvantages and could put the State Department out of reach.

People were surprised when Presidetn Obama picked Clinton in 2008, who was his former Democratic presidential rival. It indicated that the president was willing to reach out of the box to find the nation’s next top diplomat.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland maintained Wednesday that Clinton intends to see through the transition of her successor. She wants to go back to private life and enjoy some rest to think and write.

With Clinton’s departure from the State Department, President Obama’s core national security team will be changed. There are also speculations that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta would also resign in early or mid-2013. Some of the candidates to succeed Panetta include Ashton Carter, Panetta’s deputy, and former Pentagon policy Chief Michele Flournoy.

Senator Kerry was a Democratic presidential nominee in 2004. He is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He rate high on star power chart and would want to be the next Secretary of State.

Kerry would bring his experience as the diplomatic troubleshooter for the Obama administration into the State Department. He has to face various foreign problems, such as the Middle East peace process, the Syria crisis, as well as the concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.

Susan Rice is currently the ambassador to the United Nation. She is known as one of President Obama’s most capable surrogates who have a direct line to the White House. But she was placed into the spotlight after the attack on the US mission in Libya and Republicans questioned her initial description of the incident.