When Rex Tillerson bid the State Department farewell after a grueling and exhausting 10 months on the job, he left in a hurry. His short tenure as Secretary of State — one of the shortest in post-World War II history — certainly felt longer than it really was. If Tillerson found any joy in or took any satisfaction from the post, he didn’t show it. And quite frankly, by the time he put in his retirement papers, many in Washington, and in the State Department itself, were happy campers.
Tillerson’s tenure was largely inconsequential. There were no big achievements, no peace agreements signed on his watch, and no major Kissinger-esque diplomatic initiatives. But if a report this week by the Intercept is accurate, Tillerson’s most significant accomplishment may have been what he prevented — a military conflict between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on one side, and Qatar on the other.
