President Barack Obama announced today that he would nominate Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry ’66 as the next Secretary of State.

Kerry, who served in the Senate since 1985 and ran for president in 2004, became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Sen. Joe Biden became vice president in 2009. Kerry will succeed current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 once Congress approves his appointment.

“Over these many years, John’s earned the respect and confidence of leaders around the world. He is not going to need a lot of on-the-job-training,” Obama said in a press conference with Kerry beside him. “I think it is fair to say that few individuals know as many presidents and prime ministers or grasp our foreign policies as firmly as John Kerry, and this makes him a perfect choice to guide American diplomacy in the years ahead.”

During his time at Yale, Kerry majored in political science and served as the president of the Yale Political Union in the fall of 1964 and spring of 1965. He served as the president of the Liberal Party in spring 1964.

Clinton, who was not present at the conference because she is recovering from a concussion, issued a statement in which she called Obama’s pick “excellent.”

“John Kerry has been tested — in war, in government and in diplomacy,” Clinton said. “Time and again, he has proven his mettle.”