The odds are good that when President Barack Obama gets that 3 a.m. phone call, Hillary Clinton will be on the line to inform the president of the latest threat to world order.

Clinton met with Obama in Chicago last week. Both she and Obama's transition team declined to disclose what was discussed, but word spread quickly from supposed sources on Obama's team that he had offered his primary campaign rival the job of secretary of state - but that she had not yet decided whether to accept. If the job was in fact offered, we hope she takes it.

Of the people reputedly being considered, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sens. John Kerry, Chuck Hagel and Clinton, she would be our choice, though not without reservations. All four of the reported candidates for the nation's top diplomatic post have met with the Monitor's editorial board, most more than once.

We were also visited by former secretary of state Madeline Albright earlier this year. The surprise with Albright was not her encyclopedic knowledge of the world and its problems and players but her wit and charm. She was exceptionally likeable, and likeability is a quality that makes people want to listen, trust and render the benefit of the doubt.

An ideal secretary of state should be likeable, not just to close friends and family but on first impression. Use that standard and Hagel and Kerry are knocked out of contention. Hagel is steely, honest and smart. But he is too intense to invite conviviality. Kerry, despite efforts to the contrary, generally conveys the impression that he'd rather be someplace else.

That brings it down to Richardson and Clinton. The former is Mr. Geniality. It's impossible not to like him. But Clinton is not just "likeable enough" as Obama put it in a rare boorish moment - she is easily and convincingly so.

As a former ambassador to the United Nations and an experienced negotiator with foreign leaders, Richardson has an edge over Clinton in foreign policy experience. As a successful governor he outscores her on management experience. But Richardson lacks the focus, discipline and gravitas to command the respect that Clinton would.

Clinton knows many of the world's leaders, and she has the love and admiration of people the world over. That's a big asset. She would, we believe, prove tougher than Richardson, and she has earned the confidence of two former secretaries of state from rival parties, Albright and Henry Kissinger.

Chief among our reservations, however, is Bill Clinton. The former president presents several problems.

First, he heads a massive philanthropic foundation that raises money from corporations, wealthy individuals and foreign governments. That presents innumerable potential conflicts of interest. So, potentially, do his own business interests and the fundraising he's done for his presidential library.

The workings of Clinton's foundation and library, and all fundraising requests and donations rendered, must be transparent. And any business deals by Bill Clinton with foreign corporations or governments should be cleared in advance to avoid the risk of compromising U.S. interests.

Second, Bill Clinton must, as a former president and perhaps future spouse of a secretary of state, refrain from making foreign policy statements. He lacks discipline and he's likely to throw away the script, wing it, and in the process contradict official policy.

With enough safeguards to contain her husband, Hillary Clinton could be the secretary of state who could most quickly undo much of the damage done in the Bush years. The risk, given her talents, is worth taking. And if it doesn't work out, unlike a vice president - a job Hillary Clinton was also rumored to be in line for - cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the president.