John Kerry Confirmed As 68th Secretary Of State

Not surprisingly, John Kerry has been confirmed as Hillary Clinton’s successor at Foggy Bottom:

The Senate voted 94 to 3 Tuesday to approve Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) as the next secretary of state, with bipartisan tributes and a few words of caution.

Kerry is set to formally take over from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday, becoming the 68th top U.S. diplomat and the first white male to hold the post since Warren Christopher in 1997.

The three “No” votes came from Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas, and from Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe. Kerry, in keeping with Senate tradition, voted “present.”

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. C. Clavin says:

    I didn’t vote for him as President…but I’m all in favor of him as Sec. of State.

  2. Gromitt Gunn says:

    Oh, joy, my Senators are Know-Nothings. I wish I was surprised.

  3. Tsar Nicholas says:

    The liberal media is a trip:

    … the first white male to hold the post since Warren Christopher in 1997…

    What relevance does that have to being SOS? Man alive the left is lost in space. Separately, would the liberal drones at WaPo et al. even be able to grasp the multiple layers of political irony? Geez.

    In any case, I’ll go ahead and damn Kerry with less than faint praise: It coulda’ been a helluva’ lot worse. Kerry could have been named SecDef, which would have been tantamount to naming Jane Fonda to that post, and someone like Patty Murray or Barbara Boxer could have been named to Foggy Bottom, which would have been a complete and abject farce. When the choice is slim or none slim is the best for which you can hope.

  4. bill says:

    he’ll be fine as long as he follows clintons lead and does just enough to look busy but not enough to be remembered for anything you did. she was kept on a short leash, and probably for a good reason.

  5. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker says:

    @Tsar Nicholas: Of course, it could have simply been a note of trivia to lengthen an otherwise short article, but if you were a stock, I’d be dumping my holdings.

  6. Dan says:

    If Kerry’s confirmation had come down to his own vote, as a senator, would he or could he have cast the decisive vote?

  7. David says:

    @Dan: I suppose it could be possible, if the vote was at 49 for and 50 against, his vote would make it a tie and te VP would make the call. But if it was that close, the minority party would never let it get to the floor.

  8. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    Kerry’s a buffoon and a gigolo and a complete dolt, but at least now he’s out of the Senate and under Obama’s thumb. So that’s a net plus.

  9. SKI says:

    @Tsar Nicholas: Yeah it is the “liberal media”. Must be why Doug noted the same thing, albeit in an ironic/joking manner, on twitter right when Kerry was confirmed.

  10. wr says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13: “Kerry’s a buffoon and a gigolo and a complete dolt, but at least now he’s out of the Senate and under Obama’s thumb”

    Look at that: Another educated, accomplished, respected, wealthy person who isn’t nearly as smart as you. That must really chap your butt when you’re cleaning out the Slurpee machine.

  11. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @wr: You really have a Slurpee fixation, don’t you? Must’ve been a bottle baby…

    Yeah, I’m a little envious of Kerry. Not many men get to marry not one, but two multi-millionaire heiresses…

  12. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @wr: Oh, and still waiting to hear what “150 years of precedent’ the court overturned when they ruled that Obama doesn’t get to decide when Congress is in session and isn’t. Especially since Obama himself was one of Harry Reid’s buddies in holding token sessions to keep Bush from making recess appointments…

  13. Tyrell says:

    Favorites are Rusk and Kissinger. Kerry needs to declassify secret files concerning Nevada government test sites, secret bases, and secret government research .The people need to know just what goes on out there.