Cabinet Profiles: Antony Blinken: Secretary of State

The first hearings for President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominations begin today.

We will hear testimony from his picks to lead all of his cabinet positions over the next several weeks. We will profile the nominees in advance of their hearings so our readers will have some background information as the proceedings take place.

In addition, most of the hearings will be live-streamed, and we will share that information on our Twitter feed once the hearings go live.

 

Antony Blinken

Secretary of State

    • Served as Deputy Secretary of State during the Obama-Biden administration, the nation’s second highest-ranking diplomat
    • Has previously held top foreign affairs posts on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and in the State Department

From 2015 to 2017, Blinken served as Deputy Secretary of State under the Obama-Biden administration. In that role, Blinken helped to lead diplomacy in the fight against ISIL, the rebalance to Asia, and the global refugee crisis, while building bridges to the innovation community.

Before that, Blinken served as Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. He chaired the Deputies Committee, the administration’s principal forum for formulating foreign policy. During the first Obama term, he was National Security Advisor to Vice President Biden.

Blinken served as Democratic Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008 and was a member of President Clinton’s National Security Council staff from 1994 to 2001.

Prior to serving as foreign policy advisor during the Biden-Harris campaign and transition, Blinken served as managing director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and was the Herter/Nitze Distinguished Scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Before entering public service, Blinken was a reporter for The New Republic magazine, writing extensively on foreign policy. He is the author of Ally Versus Ally: America, Europe, and the Siberian Pipeline Crisis. He has also served as a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and a global affairs analyst for CNN.

Blinken is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School. Blinken graduated from high school in Paris, where he lived from ages nine to eighteen.

 

 

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