Hillary has transformed our understanding — no, our definition — of foreign affairs. Diplomacy is no longer just the skill of managing relations with other countries. The big issues — war and peace, terror, economic stability, etc. — remain, and she has handled them with firmness and authority, with poise and confidence, and with good will, when appropriate.

But it is not the praise of diplomats or dictators that will be her legacy. She dealt with plenipotentiaries, but her focus was on people. Foreign affairs isn’t just about treaties, she taught us, it’s about the suffering and aspirations of those affected by the treaties, made or unmade.

Most of all, diplomacy should refocus attention on the powerless.