Obama Cabinet and Key White House Staff
Susan Rice - Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations
(Cabinet-rank position)
Former Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama campaign
Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Clinton administration
Nominated: December 1, 2008
Obama’s comments:
“Susan Rice will take on the crucial task of serving as Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. Susan has been a close and trusted advisor. As in previous Administrations, the UN Ambassador will serve as a member of my cabinet and integral member of my team. Her background as a scholar, on the National Security Council, and Assistant Secretary of State will serve our nation well at the United Nations.
“Susan knows that the global challenges we face demand global institutions that work. She shares my belief that the UN is an indispensable—and imperfect—forum. She will carry the message that our commitment to multilateral action must be coupled with a commitment to reform. We need the UN to be more effective as a venue for collective action—against terror and proliferation; climate change and genocide; poverty and disease.”
Others’ comments:
“Some colleagues from her Clinton and Obama days said Ms. Rice can be blunt and unafraid to ‘mix it up,’ as one put it, on behalf of issues she cares about. Ms. Rice herself acknowledges a certain impatience at times.
“Admirers said she is a good listener and able to stand up to strong personalities, including foreign autocrats and militants in volatile regions of the world.
“‘Susan certainly is tough, and she’s tough in exactly the right way,’ said Strobe Talbott, a former deputy secretary of state and now president of the Brookings Institution, where Ms. Rice has worked in recent years. ‘She’s intellectually tough, she’s tough in her approach to how the policymaking process should work and she will be very effective as a diplomat.’”
—The New York Times
Approved: January 23, 2009
Appointment Impact:
“As the ambassador at the United Nations, Ms. Rice will have to coordinate with Mrs. Clinton, but will not be in the White House or at State Department headquarters on a daily basis as major policies are formulated.
“At a time when the country remains engaged in two wars and still faces the threat of international terrorism, Mrs. Clinton will anchor a national security team with more of a centrist character than some of Mr. Obama’s liberal supporters once hoped to see.
“Some critics have pointed out that the team represents experience rather than the change Mr. Obama promised.”
—The New York Times
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