Spring Break
Clinton takes the reins at State Department
Matthew Lee The Associated Press
Issue date: 1/23/09 Section: News
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Before a raucous, cheering crowd of about 1,000 people, the nation's 67th secretary of state pledged to boost the morale and resources of the diplomatic corps and promised them a difficult but exciting road ahead.
"I believe with all of my heart that this is a new era for America," she said to loud applause in the main lobby of the department's headquarters, which President Barack Obama visited later in the day to underscore his administration's commitment to diplomacy.
With Obama at her side in the ornate Ben Franklin Room, Clinton introduced former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, as a special envoy for the Middle East. Former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke was announced as a special adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The posts are the first of several new special envoys the administration plans to create to deal with particularly vexing problems abroad.
Clinton began her first day on the job at the State Department one day after her Senate confirmation.
"This is going to be a challenging time and it will require 21st Century tools and solutions to meet our problems and seize our opportunities," Clinton said at her welcoming. "I'm going to be asking a lot of you. I want you to think outside the proverbial box. I want you to give me the best advice you can."
"I want you to understand there is nothing that I welcome more than a good debate and the kind of dialogue that will make us better," she said. "We cannot be our best if we don't demand that from ourselves and each other."
In her spirited 10-minute pep talk, she spoke of the importance of defense, diplomacy and development - the "three legs to the stool of American foreign policy" - and noted that the State Department is in charge of two of them.
"We are responsible for two of the three legs," said the former New York senator and first lady. "And we will make clear as we go forward that diplomacy and development are essential tools in achieving the long-term objectives of the United States."
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