March 30, 2014.

Hillary Clinton's Legacy at State Dept.: A Hawk With Clipped Wings

"Do you know how long you have been here?"

In her final weeks as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton wrote a private memo to President Barack Obama warning that relations with Russia had hit a low point and the heralded "reset" in relations was over, according to people who saw the document.

"I don’t know. Days, weeks, months----I think it is months."

Inside the White House, some officials were loath to ditch a cornerstone of Mr. Obama's Russia policy. Months passed before Russian President Vladimir Putin gave sanctuary to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, prompting Mr. Obama to cancel a planned summit in Moscow, a stark sign the reset was off track, if not dead.

"And why do you imagine that we bring people to this place?"

Mrs. Clinton, if she runs for president, likely will lean heavily on her experience as the nation's top diplomat. Her memo, written in January 2013, illustrates two striking features of her four years in the post: She was often more hawkish than the White House she served, and at some key moments was ineffectual at swinging policy her way.