As Hillary Clinton begins her confirmation hearings, today's Times asked a series of experts for questions the Foreign Relations Committee should pose.

The most interesting was a historical comparison, offered by Fouad Ajami of SAIS:"In 1913, Woodrow Wilson appointed William Jennings Bryan secretary of state for solely domestic political reasons. He needed but distrusted him, and thus relied on other advisers to conduct diplomacy. Have you read up on Wilson’s relationship with Bryan, and will it be relevant to your own situation?"

The comparison isn't exact: given the realities of the Democratic Party at the time, and given his preference for governing with Democratic votes alone in Congress, Wilson had little choice but to appoint Bryan. Obama, on the other hand, could have named someone other than Clinton without political fallout. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to hear Clinton's answer to Ajami's question.