It had come as a huge shock when the newly elected President had chosen a political foe, a woman who’d used her vast resources to support his rival for the party nomination, for such a powerful and prestigious position.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Since Ellen had spent so much time criticizing Williams after he refused to negotiate for Gil’s release, it is surprising that he nominates her as his Secretary of State. It is later determined that Williams put Ellen in that position because he believed she could not handle it. He believed her career and reputation would be destroyed by her failure.

Bashir Shah had killed her husband. And there was another terrible truth. He’d done it in revenge for the documentary she’d aired, which had led to a series of newspaper reports, which had led, after months of pressure from the then American administration on the Pakistani government...
-- Narrator (Chapter 12)