NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 19: United States Deputy Secretary of State and the former Deputy National Security Advisor for President Barack Obama Anthony Blinken speaks at the 2016 Concordia Summit - Day 1 at Grand Hyatt New York on September 19, 2016 in New York City. (Photo: Getty)
President-elect Joe Biden announced his first round of nominees for his Cabinet on Tuesday. His selection for Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted his stepfather’s struggle during the Holocaust, as well as Jewish persecution, in his acceptance speech.
“My late stepfather, Samuel, he was one of 900 children in his school in Bialystok, Poland, but the only one to survive the Holocaust after four years in concentration camps,” Blinken said. “At the end of the war, he made a break from a death march…from his hiding place, he heard a deep rumbling sound… painted on its side was a five-pointed white star. An African American GI looked down at him. He got down on his knees and said the only three words that he knew in English… ‘God bless America.'”
“That’s who we are,” he continued. “That’s what America represents to the world… Now we have to proceed with equal measures of humility and confidence… we can’t solve all the world’s problems alone. We need to be working with other countries.”
Blinken, who was a foreign policy adviser to President Barack Obama, was selected by Biden for his skills in diplomacy and deep policy knowledge. Biden has made it clear that one of his priorities is shifting away from President Donald Trump’s policies with the idea of “America first,” and wants to rebuild the nation’s relationships with its allies.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.
“While this team has unmatched experience and accomplishments, they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet these challenges with old thinking and unchanged habits,” said Biden of Blinken and other nominees. He emphasized that with his administration, the United States will be “ready to lead.”
Concerns are rising for Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) following a chaotic meeting with Pennsylvania teachers'…
With weeks remaining before their self-imposed Memorial Day deadline, House Republicans are growing more divided…
The Federal Reserve decided on Wednesday to hold interest rates steady, at 4.25 percent to…
Former U.S. President Joe Biden continues to defend his decision to drop out of the…
Two years after Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) checked himself into a hospital to treat his…
https://youtu.be/-5rxJ1A4uHU Pro-Palestine protesters faced off with officers during a rally in a Columbia University library…