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Where does John Kerry rank among recent Secrataries of State?

Blackjack200

Blackjack200

Lifer
I'm asking earnestly as my history is not all that great and my perceptions may be off, a few notable S's of State:

James Baker - Did a hell of a job putting the coalition together for the Persian Gulf war, including getting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Germany, and Japan to contribute billions of dollars toward the effort.

Madeleine Albright: Hardline stance toward Iraq and WMDs, attacks on American Embassies. Met with Kim Jong Il for some reason.

Colin Powell - Should have been remembered as a good or great SoS, but will only be remembered for selling the Iraq War on behalf of the Bush Administration.

Condoleeza Rice - Confirmed despite the pall of her role in the Iraq War, as SoS she seemed to be fairly effective.

Hillary Clinton - With obvious intentions to burnish her credentials for POTUS, Clinton probably realized that terrorism wasn't going away, so she was one one of the more hawkish voices in the first Obama Administration. Nevertheless, and despite her vote for the Iraq War in the Senate, as the first SoS since the Bush Administration she was responsible for repairing our international reputation, and travelled extensively.

John Kerry - Absolute laundry list of accomplishments, without question the two biggest are the Iran deal and starting to normalize relations with Cuba. Also got Israel and Palestine to the table in ultimately failed peace talks (though I don't think their failure can really be blamed on him). Syria and ISIL are not looking good, but the jury is still out.

(Most of this shit is Wikipedia combined with my memory and perceptions, so...)
 
Who fucking cares? Only thing that matters is that American voters were smart enough not to elect Kerry POTUS.
 
Good summary of the various SoS (I personally would have rated Hillary higher, I think she did an excellent job in that role). She managed to tone down her war hawk impulses and follow the direction of her President.

We have been blessed in the last 20 years of so all have been very good at a minimum, even Condolezza Rice, who went into the job looking like a yes-man/political hack.
 
The best thing about Kerry is that in twelve months we'll be rid of him. He steps on his dick a lot opening his mouth before thinking about what's coming out. Having said that, he's our first SoS to have James Taylor serenade the Parisians and French Muslims. Not there's some diplomacy for ya!
 
Well, one could argue that kerrys open dialogue with Iran allowed us to get our navy men back the following day compared to the 13 days the British had to wait to get their men back or the 11 days bush had to wait to get our men back from china who then charged us room & board.

But it all depends on who you ask and what your criteria is. There will always be fucking morons like boomerang who can find the dumbest shit to complain about.
 
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Though some don't like him, Henry Kissinger was easily the most influential and accomplished Secretary of State in the past 50 years.
 
Thump553 said:
Good summary of the various SoS (I personally would have rated Hillary higher, I think she did an excellent job in that role). She managed to tone down her war hawk impulses and follow the direction of her President.

We have been blessed in the last 20 years of so all have been very good at a minimum, even Condolezza Rice, who went into the job looking like a yes-man/political hack.
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Really? Did you completely forget about Hillary's War?
 
ivwshane said:
Well, one could argue that kerrys open dialogue with Iran allowed us to get our navy men back the following day compared to the 13 days the British had to wait to get their men back or the 11 days bush had to wait to get our men back from china who then charged us room & board.

But it all depends on who you ask and what your criteria is. There will always be fucking morons like boomerang who can find the dumbest shit to complain about.
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The Secretary of State ultimately supports the foreign policy of the President who appointed them. I'm happy to give "credit" to Kerry for things like Cuba but also realize Obama should get most of the applause for that as the final decision maker even if Kerry was the key influencer getting him to adopt that policy (and I have no idea if he was or not).
 
President makes the decisions, Sec of State fulfills them.
You'd have to ask the President how good his employee is.
 
HomerJS said:
Because the guy voted in was so much better??
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No, but Wesley Clark or even Howard Dean would have been. Probably Bob Graham or Joe Lieberman for that matter. Kerry and Edwards were the least appealing non novelty candidates on the Dem side in 2004.
 
pcgeek11 said:
Bullshit.
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So what did Kissinger accomplish, other than spending the better part of a year arguing over the SHAPE of the proposed peace table-and thus refusing to enter into while American draftees died needlessly? Kissinger was great in his own mind and a great self promoter (ala Trump today) and he may have helped talk Nixon down from complete psychosis when the Watergate pressure to resign was peaking- but a great, or even good, Secretary of State he certainly was not. He and Nixon decimated the military, caused high inflation/stagflation and very nearly tore this country completely apart.
 
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