I hear a lot of "Good for Claire!" sentiment going around, congratulating her for leaving a partnership where she was not an equal. Personally, I think she's an unstable, incompetent dunce.

She asks for the UN appointment. Frank gives it in spite of the fact that she's in no way qualified, and she massively fucks up the hearing.

She asks for a recess appointment and Frank gives it willingly in spite of the political implications.

Franks entrusts her to get the peacekeeping plan through the UN, and she fails (somewhat understandably).

He counts on her to secure Corrigan’s release while he and Petrov spend hours negotiating their plans, and she pushes Corrigan so hard that he goes martyr. Then, after causing said situation, she screws over the US and the administration by giving an insane rant in front of the Russian press.

Somehow Cold War II hasn’t started, and somehow Frank still trusts Claire because when she says the Russians killed their own people he listens and sends in covert ops, fucking up everything they’ve worked for in the Jordan Valley. She had been deceived and Frank has to have her resign to maintain regional stability. Claire has the audacity to be mad about it.

Finally, she finds something she’s good at, a way to be a part of the team that doesn’t involve fucking up international relations. She goes out and stumps for Frank and she is doing a good job of it. Naturally, she abandons him in an hour of need.

The scenario has been clear from the very beginning. Claire is the First Lady and that has a very clear power dynamic. Her experience is the absolute best case scenario for anyone who hopes to hold that position. Frank is a very angry asshole in season 3, but he isn’t wrong. They have worked to be where they’re at and it cannot have been unclear that this is how it would be.

I don’t think there’s anything strong about what Claire did. I think she’s incompetent, unstable, and has never been fully committed.

EDIT: Honestly a little surprised by the success of this post. It's obviously not an unpopular sentiment, but I didn't expect it to resonate so thoroughly. I would just like to take a moment to address some problematic lines of thought though. This isn't about Claire being a "typical emotional woman" or some such nonsense. All of the above would be true if Frank and Claire's roles were reversed, and before this season Claire has been cutting and brilliant. Frank is also unstable this season, but his comes out in the form of anger at his subordinates, while Claire's comes out as poor judgment or snap reactions. Let's not make this sexist, guys. Claire's gender has nothing to do with her severe chain of fuck-ups.

CONGRATS F.U.!!!