Secretary of State- John F. Kerry
The veteran Massachusetts Democratic senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee will succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Kerry, the current Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, breezed through his confirmation hearing before the committee on Thursday. He has undertaken sensitive diplomatic missions for Obama in Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and helped prepare Obama for his presidential debates with Republican Mitt Romney last year. He got the nomination after U.N. ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration after taking GOP heat for her response to the September 11 terrorist attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya.
