The Nation has an article calling John Kerry one of the most significant Secretaries of State in the

[karynnj]

50 years. Good article and, in addition to praising Kerry, it describes how diplomacy should be done to succeed. Well deserved praise, but sad considering that Trump is listening to Steve Bannon to form his ideas of foreign policy. It is not a good sign that much of the top CAREER level of the State Department either all resigned together or were fired by Trump.

In the complicated field of American foreign policy, one of the signal successes of the Obama Administration was the work of Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry emerged as a relentless and tenacious peacemaker during his time in office. He continually showed his willingness to go all-out—use diplomacy, talk to foes, pursue negotiations, issue public pronouncements, take repeated overseas jaunts, and even, on occasion, broadcast threats to help reach sensible objectives. In his efforts, he acted as a progressive and a realist about planetary affairs, especially about the need for diplomacy over war. Kerry, in his way, restored much of America’s influence around the globe and blunted much of the chronic resentment nations have felt toward the United States.

https://www.thenation.com/article/john-kerry-was-one-of-the-most-significant-secretaries-of-state-in-the-last-50-years/

(Because the paragraphs were long and detailed - unlike the one or two sentences in some sources - I thought it would be greedy to copy more than this one paragraph and provide the link.


This is very significant as the Nation was long exceedingly cynical about Kerry - rarely giving him credit on anything.

[LisaM]

1. What a lost opportunity as President.

To this day, I'm pissed about the GOP convention mocking his Purple Hearts.

What kind of a country turns down a person of this caliber as President?

[MBS]

2. Possibly one that didn't deserve him as president.

Absolutely, a lost opportunity.
On the other hand, what a superb job he did as Secretary of State. .

[karynnj]

3. I am still angry at a media that showed no real outrage over the purple heart bandaids

Their lack of outrage, in effect, suggested that this was fair game. In fact, they were mocking the real heroism of a 25 year old American, as elite as you could get who did not pull strings to keep himself out of Vietnam. I also thought that it would have been amazing had John McCain, who Kerry supported through the time they investigated the POW/MIA issue and led all the Senate Vietnam vets to sign a statement when Bush smeared McCain in 2000, had requested that in respect to him - those disgraceful stickers be removed - at least as he spoke. Didn't happen.

I think 2004 was seen by the Democratic establishment as a year they would lose. That actually might be why Kerry was not blocked by someone they preferred, but it might also explain why so little was done to fix the state parties before the election. Kerry made a difficult election close with his excellent debates and being who he is.

[LisaM]

5. Yes, I went to hear him speak and was so impressed.

He came down to the Seattle waterfront in the rain and gave a great speech, every word specifically tailored to the Pacific Northwest and the problems relative to us, including employment related to the logging and fishing industries and the environment.

[MBS]

4. So well-deserved.

He is certainly the best, most creative, determined, courageous and most forward-looking SoS in my lifetime: hands-down.

[karynnj]

6. He really was and he clearly put every ounce of energy, time and intellectual effort into

every minute of the nearly 4 years he had. I hope that he is now taking a time for himself and his family -- the better to have some space and time to think about all that he did.

Even the worst of Trump can not make the situation more dangerous on Iran than when he started talks -- and it looks like there is pressure to keep what they have. On the environment - with the rest of the world moving forward - as well as some US states, we are better off than where most of the environmental community in 2013 thought we would be at this point. Obviously it will be painful seeing the US as the outlaw country on this issue -- where Kerry led. The Paris Agreement still marks where the world seriously started its efforts.