With the controversy over contraception coverage for women in religiously based employment at the height of the news this week, it became evident that President Obama was influenced by women in his administration toward the stand he took, until he backtracked earlier today. Among those women influencing his earlier stand were Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House aide Valerie Jarrett. Among the men opposed were Vice President Joe Biden and former Chief of Staff William Daley.
Last year, it was women working with Barack Obama, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, who convinced him to get involved in Libya”s Civil War, although others such as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon advised against it.
This is an interesting development, as never before have women had such significance in decision making on important domestic and foreign policy issues as under Obama.
Whether in the long run this will be seen as positive for the Obama record in office will be debated and analyzed for decades!