The Foreign Service Journal, March 2009

American Foreign Service Association • March 2009 AFSA NEWS I f newly-confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emerged from her black official sedan on the morning of Jan. 22 with all the assurance of an inter- national rock star, her celebrity status was confirmed by the roar that went up from hundreds of cheering State Department employees when they first caught sight of her. GreetedbyUnder Secretary for Politi- cal AffairsWilliamBurns,Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy and AFSAStateVice President SteveKashkett, she stopped and shook hands with those braving the coldoutside, thenmadeherway into the building, where an even larger throng awaited her. The glass-paneled atrium of State Department headquarters at CStreet, usu- ally spacious andairy,was so filledwithpeo- ple that those employees descending to the main floor had difficulty exiting the eleva- tors. Television lights illuminated the lobby and dozens of hands reached up with cell phones andcameras toget a shot of thenew Secretary. Ascending to a platform and turning to face the crowd, which was esti- mated at roughly 1,000 people, Sec. Clin- ton seemed as excited as her audience. In opening remarks, Kashkett warmly welcomed the Secretary on behalf of both Foreign Service andCivil Service employ- ees at State, who he noted were ready to become her “foreign policy brain trust.” The employees standing before her, Kashkett pointed out, “are a proud, patri- otic, highly skilledcorps of professionals… [and] some of our country’s greatest experts on every region of the worldandevery complex issue confronting theUnited States abroad.” His words of wel- come were interrupted sever- al timesbycheers andapplause from the crowd. Under Secretary Burns then formally introduced the Secretary, and she took the REAFFIRMING THE ROLE OF DIPLOMACY AFSA Welcomes Secretary Clinton BY FRANCESCA KELLY MA R CH 2 0 0 9 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 49 2008 Annual Report New Expanded Format Page 54 SEC. CLINTON APPOINTS SPECIAL ENVOYS President and VP Visit State Dept. on Second Day in Office O nly a few hours after Secretary Clinton arrived at her new workplace on Jan. 22, President BarackObama andVice President Joseph Biden paid a highly publicized visit to theDepartment of State. Sec. Clintonhadbarely settled intoher office before heading upstairs to the Benjamin FranklinRoomto greet, alongside the newpresident and vice president, a select group of correspondents, foreign diplomats, White House staffers and department employees. Covered live onmajor televisionnetworks, the StateDepartment visit, onPres. Obama’s second day in office, was seen as not only an affirmation of the president’s commitment to a more expanded role for the Foreign Service but also as a strong signal to foreign govern- ments that the new U.S. administration will focus on diplomatic solutions to worldwide challenges. “Today you will see an example of the kind of robust diplomacy that the pres- ident intends topursue,” Sec. Clinton stated. Wastingno time, she andVicePresident Biden introduced twonewly appointed special emissaries to troubledregions: former SenatorGeorge Mitchell, to be special envoy for Middle East peace, and former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Inhis own remarks, Pres.Obamadeclared: “The StateDepartment is going tobe absolute- ly critical to our success in the years to come; you individually are going to be critical to our success; and we want to send a signal to all kinds of young people who may be thinking about the Foreign Service, that they are going to be critical in terms of projecting not just America’s power, but also America’s values and America’s ideals.” AFSA State VP Steve Kashkett (right) officially welcomes Secretary Clinton on her first day at the State Department, Jan. 22, while AFSA President John Naland (left) looks on. MICHAEL LAIACONA Continued on page 53