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Jason Reed / Reuters
Sen. John Kerry waves at the end of his speech during the final session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on September 6.
Updated at 7:01 a.m. ET: When he ran for president, many in the GOP slammed Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pilloried for his late opposition to the Vietnam War and his famed flip on the conflict in Iraq. But, as criticism mounted against U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as the apparent frontrunner to become the next secretary of State, Kerry was publicly embraced by Republican colleagues in the Senate as a comparatively slam-dunk candidate to replace Hillary Clinton.
Now that Rice has withdrawn her nomination to the post, as NBC News reported exclusively on Thursday, all eyes turn to the onetime Democratic nominee. An official close to the process told NBC's Andrea Mitchell late Thursday that Kerry is now almost certain to get the job. "There were two people on the list," the person said. "Two minus one is one."
In her withdrawal letter to the president, Rice said she was convinced her nomination would prove "lengthy, disruptive and costly" as Republicans have raised questions about her role in the public response to the 9/11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The exclusive NBC News interview with Rice aired Thursday on Rock Center with Brian Williams.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News' Brian Williams, Ambassador Susan Rice described the moment she called President Barack Obama and told him to withdraw her name from those he is considering nominating as secretary of state. Rice defends her comments made about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and describes what it's been to like to be in the center of a political firestorm.
In a statement, Kerry praised Rice as an "extraordinarily capable and dedicated public servant" and alluded to his own past political battles.
"As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I've felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks, but I also know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction," he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Rice drops out of running for secretary of state
Elected to the Senate in 1984, Kerry rose to national prominence as a foreign policy expert when he returned to the Senate after his failed 2004 presidential bid. The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee since 2009, he has made high-profile visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan and helped negotiate the new arms treaty with Russia that was signed in 2010.
Respected in the upper chamber and nationally as a shaper of the nation's foreign policy, Republicans have indicated that Kerry would face little opposition to be confirmed to the secretary of State post. "I think John Kerry would be an excellent appointment and would be easily confirmed by his colleagues," said Republican Susan Collins, R-Maine, late last month. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, a close ally of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, declared that Kerry would have "an easy time" being confirmed in the Senate.
Kerry's confirmation would likely not come without some minor re-litigation of past controversies. One of Congress's richest members, he was painted as an out-of-touch patrician by his presidential foes. The onetime Navy lieutenant was criticized by opponents during his campaign for his high-profile protests of the Vietnam War, including his nationally-covered challenge to a congressional panel in 1971 to defend the deaths of men "for a mistake."
Kerry worked closely with the president in the just-finished election, playing Romney in debate preparations and had been seen as a potential choice to head either the State Department or the Department of Defense. Earlier today a top Pentagon official told NBC News that former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel appeared to be the likely choice for secretary of Defense.
NBC's Chuck Todd details the events that led up to Susan Rice removing her name from consideration for the role of U.S. secretary of state.
But the main headache for Democrats if Kerry is appointed will be the triggering of a special election in Massachusetts next year to replace him. Democrats recently celebrated the ousting of Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who won a January 2010 special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Elizabeth Warren bested Brown in the heavily blue state by a margin of 54 percent to Brown's 46 percent.
If Kerry is picked, Brown will be viewed as a formidable Republican candidate to replace him. A wider bench of Democrats, including former Senate candidate Martha Coakley, may vie for the nomination.
But whoever wins the potential replacement race would have a grueling path, as would voters weary of statewide contests. Another special election would be the state's second in three years, and Kerry's successor would be up for re-election again in 2014.
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The Party of Losers is crying and lying while licking its self-inflicted wounds.
It's just a shame that she wasn't assessed on her credentials regardless of how/what the Sink Susan Rice trilateral commission used.
Pure politics, nothing more...
What a shame. Ambassador Rice would have made an excellent Sect. of State. The Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for playing politics with such an important position.
It used to be that the President got whoever they wanted for Secretary of State, that is until President Obama was elected. They have spent the last 4 years trying to make life miserable for him and he is still making them look like brain dead drooling idiots. Keep up the good work MR. President.
a political puppet and liar as Secretary of State?? ....how would that have been a good choice?
HopeisGone...
You call her a liar as many times as you like, or anything for that matter. It still won't make it true.
Left
You just can't get much traction with your hatred and rants can you. That's because things like you just don't count anymore. We have grown tired of you and are just tuning you and you hatred out. We will be moving forward without you. Just step aside, you're in the way troll.
Just sit in your bubble and drool. It's all you're good for.
Kerry as Secretary of State will be a disaster for the country. He is a rabid supporter of Pakistan, a failed rogue state that is bleeding the US dry. The defense industries will love him, the rest of us will pay with funds diverted from basic human services to the poor of our country.
I would like to see him pick Colin Powell or John Huntsman. Either would do a great job for the country.
...There is never a shortage of liars in the Democratic Party........
HopeisGone...
Wait, wait, lets give everyone a chance to get out of your glass house...
I think you should be aiming that silliness at the intelligence community.
Please provide an explanation as to why the Republican leadership and others basically told the dynamic trio to shut up? I'm looking for something plausible, no Aesop stuff...
Lots of sore losers out today.
You mean Republicans??? Yea, the Right sure did take an azz whipping a month ago. Damn but that had to hurt.
Apparently still hurting.
Ozzie
I just get a kick out of watching them make excuses for their defeat. They blame everything under the stars except themselves for being so incredibly hateful or their incredibly flawed candidates who p!ssed off so many segments of American society thinking the fix would be in and their racist white vote would carry the day. God, it must suck to be them.
Note to Republicans, you just can't insult that many people and expect to get many votes from them. People have long memories when you insult them and will pay you back if they can.
Get what they want and are still sore losers.
About the only good thing I can say about the tax evading, gold digging,gigolo from Massachusetts is that he has better hair than Hillary. It will be hard to replace Clinton.
Herman Munster would be a scary choice by the White House - Kerry was an average student in college and will not do well in World Affairs, just ask G.W. Bush.
How come there was no indignation from McCain and Graham when Condolisa Rice lied about weapons of mass destruction...there were none...Bush knew it because his committee he sent to investigate told him so and she knew ...yet all was o.k. with these two at that time. This woman did not lie...she repeated what she was told and for McCain...to demean her and say she is unqualified and not too bright....what about his college records...as I recall..they were not near as good as hers were nor was he a Rhodes scholar. Just the opposite...he was far from being an outstanding student. This is another attempt to stop Pres Obama any way they can...they have balked at every candidate he has presented from day one. How about putting that energy into getting the jobs bill passed he sent there over 12 months ago? How about passing the bill to aide our soldiers and sailore who fought in the wars and are now needing some assistance, financially and medically? They fillibustered this also. I think Mr. Reide has the right idea...if you want to fillibuster...the person objecting must fillibuster until he presents his case ...none of this raising one's hand and then going home. How about passing some of the bills that are sitting there..ie immigration reform which the President sent over a year ago? This group of so called American citizens can learn how to be a good citizen from Ms. Rice...she took her name off to keep t his President from having a long extended fight feeling that it was more important to get things done for the country. They could take a page from her book on "what a good American does" for its country.
I'mafascist
How could anyone be so misinformed as you?
I'mafascist
How could anyone be so misinformed as you?
I guess the republicans have not learned anything from two presidental losses. They feel this will pass but they are wrong..they thought they would win also....and they were wrong there, too. The public is much more aware today and take the time to look up facts and they have long memories. There are upcoming elections and what is happening by the republican party with the lowest rankings ever...do they actually think people will vote for a group who has refused to work for the people and instead work for a lobbyist. Those days are over...didn't the latest election tell you anything?
The country has had enough of the Republican failed policies, obstruction and lies. The country is saying to the Republicans, "we will NOT allow you to turn us over to the plutocrats to do with us as they will". We want democracy and to share in the prosperity of this country. Either the Republicans change or they will mostly be gone over the next couple election cycles.
So the rich Republicans think they can waited out?
I blame the American people for this mess. They had a chance to give President Obama a cooperative Congress, a good partner to get things down. Instead, they voted back the status quo, same old stalemate that is keeping the expectations down and the economy with it. Who would want to invest into this mess?
Ambassador Rice would have made an excellent Sec of State. but I guess her color wasn't right for the Republicans. The people will remember, hopefully.
Sen Kerry has too much military baggage for this job and some foreign leaders will not doubt use it for their benefit.
With the next immediate crisis being the Palestinian-Israeli deal, again, I don't think there is any one better that fits the Sec of State positions than the 80 year old, young, Sen. George J. Mitchell. Yes, he may be 80 but 80 good sound years of invaluable experience, especially in foreign affair. Point in question, Northern Ireland, what an exceptional performance by this well educated and decent leader. He brought the same determination and class to the world scene as he exemplified in Congress.
Sec. of State George J. Mitchell. ... or a very close facsimile.
Are you ALL nuts? Why would Obama want to saddle himself and his administration's legacy with yesterday's bad news, John Kerry? Kerry as SoS will NEVER happen.
I don't even know how all this speculation that he was being considered even got out there! Under what grounds are they making this assumption that he will even be considered. This is so stupid!
EPUnum...
You do realize that the majority of the right supports that appointment, don't you?
That adds a lot of players to the nuts-brigade.
Why? because Obama is leaving himself and his administration with such a great legacy? 16+ trillion in debt and counting, no intention of making serious cuts that are needed to get us out of this mess, more divisiveness, more companies leaving to go oversreas to avoid tax hikes and increased costs of Obamacare, unemployment expected to rise? And you think the nomination of John Kerry will damage his legacy? Yeah right!
$16 trillion debt mostly as a result of a Republican controlled government.
Where do the cuts come from without puhing the country into recession?
If companies are leaving, it's to maximize profits. Effective tax rates on corporations are lower than most other industrialized countries in the world.
Just because the radical right media says differently doesn't make it so. Look it up for yourself. Let google be your friend.
Again, let's go back to blaming Bush for this 16 trillion. Are you kidding? This is Obama's second term and he will still get a free pass on this increasing debt on his watch? This excuse will not fly anymore, whatever debt was incurred under Bush, triple it under Obama's term! FYI: The House and Senate were Democratically controlled during the last two yrs. of Bush's term last term if I recall, maybe you should do research to avoid posting false information.
The only thing that is going to push our country deeper into recession is by punishing the job creators by burdoning them with higher taxes in addition to the high costs they will incur with Obamacare (which will result in layoffs, hiring freezes and reduction of hours to avoid paying these high costs).
People need jobs, not Govt money!!!
Yes, comanies are leaving to make more profits because the proftits are impossible to get at home with taxes expected to rise even higher in a addition to the rising costs of Obamacare! Obama wants to penalize the job creators, don't complain if they have to go overseas to make profit.
You are wrong once again! The US is paying the highest tax rate in the world, where do you get the info that it is lower than other countries. If that were the case, I don't think they would be leaving!!
This is all common sense, you don't need to google to come up with these conclusions.
Evidently, most Americans haven't drank the Republican tea as you have. The Republicans lost the battle for public opinion as evidenced by the last election and the dismal perception of the Republican party. Keep believing the radical right delusion, if it makes you feel better. The rest of us are tired of failed Republican policies, obstruction and lies and are moving ahead with the goal of prosperity for all Americans and not just a privileged few.
The Republicans want Kerry in as SoC so they can try to backdoor Brown back into the Senate. I would rather the President pick Colin Powell or John Huntsman. It would be political suicide for Republicans to fight that one, plus, it would definitely turn the tables on the Republicans.
It would make for incredibly good theater.
If that statement was the best post you can come up with, then obviously you do not have a rebuttal for what I said because there is no argument for you to make against what I said. Instead, you, like any other libs will trash republicans with no argument as to why except to bash them as the evil 1%. FYI; Obama did not win by a landslide, I hardly believe 51% of the vote reflects what the majority believes! And I do have to believe that those few percentages that put Obama over the top accounts for people who are misinformed about what they think they will be getting from this Administration. And it seems to me by your last senseless post that you are one of those people. It's as simple as that!
It's the Republicans who are pushing for Kerry. So your diatribes against him are kind of funny. I really doubt that he gives a rip what you think, so go ahead and complain about him if you want. No one is listening.
I think Obama should float Sharpton's name. Can you imagine all the teaparty heads exploding at once? lmao
I don't care who Obama picks as his Secretary of State! It will not change the fact that Obama is sending us right back into another recession. No appointments will change the damage he has inflicted and will continue to inflict on this country. So go ahead Obama, choose Sharpton, Mickey Mouse or whatever name you can come up with. It will not change where we are headed!
Dee, this is the blogosphere... The world where fact is an abstract concept.
Welcome!
OK then Sarah Palin for Sec of State and Michelle Bachman for Sec of Defense. Sarah could teach the world how to fish and bachman could describe how she converts Cains 9,9,9 to the devils 6,6,6. My God do your remember these ignorant people and the best the Republicans have??
OK let's get a Republican to fill the spot to show bi-partisan twist. Bachman, Palin, Cain, Gingrich, Huntsman, Rudi G, or wait they have not completed Common Sense school. What idiots the Republicans bring forward. And the guy in Florida..doesn't know how old the Earth is??? Gees I just lose it thinking that the Country could bring forward smart people. Republican losers! Democrats not a lot better!
On a serious note Please pray for the family of the kids shot. Such a tragedy! Have no idea how to stop this. People just losing it! So very sad and I hope we can pray ourselves out of this!
So if John Kerry votes present, is a stick figure allowed to sit in his seat?
Why would anyone ever want that job.
is kerry really the best they can come up with? remember his yacht berthing fiasco to save a few personal dollars?
Yes Old Hag, we know you get your info from Fox, good show.
She did nothing wrong. She disseminated the very same declassified intel that was given to members of Congress on the Sunday talk shows. What did she do wrong? You have three old white men and a newly elected female conservative with ambitions go after Ambassador Rice with lie after lie about her. I simply cannot believe the president accepted her letter. This was a fight served up to ensure democrats would win many more midterm seats and why President Obama refuses to stand up for a member of his administration baffles me. He is willing to let her fall on her sword and not fight back. This is exactly why conservatives are emboldened time and time again to tell outright lies about him and his administration. He seems to pick and choose when he will have a spine. All the talk was that McCain and his cohorts were doing this to get Kerry out of his seat in Massachusettes so they could run Scott brown for that seat. President Obama acts as if they won. Many voters like myself worked hard to get him re-elected, donated money, demanded taxes on the wealthy. Many in Massachusetts voters voted out Scott Brown for Elizabeth Warren. President Obama also caved on her nomination to head the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and she withdrew as well.
This was a no-win for republicans as as they argued for Condeleaza Rice after she gave false intelligence in the run up to the Iraq War with her imfamous Mushroom Cloud reference. Their opposition of Rice would intensify minority support for democrats as it would be seen as a racist/bigoted attack on a woman of color. Why the political advisors to the DNC, the DCCC, and President Obama let this happen must be investigated. She did nothing wrong and the McCain led lynching of her should of been exposed for what it was and stand up and fight for one of your most loyal servants. I urge all to write and call the White House and demand he nominate her and call their bluff. The people are tired of their actions and we must demand no less from our president and no less from democrats in Congress. The openly racist/bigoted acts by conservatives must be stamped out and put them on notice that this will not be tolerasted ever.
Send John Kerry on a mission to the moon. and maby he could get Jane fonda to go with him.
Is stupidity a family trait, or you just got inspired today?
the right man for the job of secretary of state is dr. ron paul.
john kerry LIED big time about his tour in nam. he'll keep on lying!!!!!
Your delusions are getting worse by the minute.
Bush, Condi, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Powell, and Co., now that's lying big time. Seven thousand U.S. deaths, one million Irakis dead.
When you find your brain, come back.
Leave Kerry in the Senate. Recess appoint Rice. Too radical? Too bad!
I doubt Condi would ever work for Obama. She is much to smart for that. Susan Rice is a quitter, she never even tried to fight for the job.
You mean quitter as in Sarah Palin and de Mint? I see!
Condi could never work where she cannot tell lies about the world coming to an end.
Rice did the right thing by pulling her name from consideration. GOP would just love another witch hunt.. idiots!
No one has to go on a witch hunt when they are out there waving red flags and yelling look at me, look at me, I will say any foolish thing that Obama wants me to say.
J.A.... the only thing being said that is foolish, is what you just said. Obama had nothing to do with Rice's talking points. It was the CIA... next time you want to bash Obama, please make sure you have your facts straight.
LPF....come on, you cannot believe that Obama never told Rice what to say. It is such an obvious lie and no one would want to really go out in public and try to pretend that they are that stupid. Apparently you believe none of the reports that the ambassador and the people there requested help repeatedly. Those people knew that their lives were in danger....and they were met with an uninterested administration. An administration that was making up their story as our people were killed...That is not bashing Obama....that is saying the truth about Obama.