Tag Archive: John Kerry

  1. Kerry ’66 confirmed as secretary of state

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    Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry ’66 was easily confirmed by the Senate as the next secretary of state this afternoon.

    Following a four-hour confirmation hearing held last week, Kerry was confirmed with a vote of 94-3, with only three Republicans voting against his confirmation, and will replace Hillary Clinton LAW ’73. Kerry, who has served as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 2009, is the first person to be confirmed to President Barack Obama’s new national security team.

    “John has earned the respect of leaders around the world and the confidence of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, and I am confident he will make an extraordinary secretary of state,” President Barack Obama said in a statement this afternoon.

    At Yale, Kerry majored in political science and served as president of the Yale Political Union his junior year. In his senior year, he became a member of the Skull and Bones society.

    Kerry has served in the Senate since 1985.

  2. Kerry ’66 tapped to head State Department

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    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.”