NY1.com

  71º

You are not signed in  |  Sign in here  |  Help

You're viewing a lite version of NY1.com

Time Warner Cable customers: Sign in with your TWC ID for video access.

Get my TWC ID. | Get TWC service. | Read the FAQ.

12/21/2012 03:25 PM

Obama: Kerry "Perfect Choice" For Secretary Of State

By: NY1 News

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

President Barack Obama on Friday named Massachusetts Senator John Kerry as the nation's next Secretary of State.

Making the announcement at the White House, the president praised Kerry's service in Vietnam and his time as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

If Kerry is confirmed, he will take the helm at the State Department from outgoing Secretary Hillary Clinton.

The president says Kerry is the right man for the job.

"I think it's fair to say that few individuals know as many presidents and prime ministers or grasps our foreign policy better than John Kerry. And this makes him the perfect choice to guide American diplomacy in the years ahead," Obama said.

Senator Kerry is expected to have the support from his longtime Capitol Hill colleagues during the confirmation process.