President Obama nominates Sen. John Kerry for Sec. of State - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports

President Obama nominates Sen. John Kerry for Sec. of State

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By John Beard - bio | email

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WKOW) -- President Barack Obama made it official this afternoon when he announced he is nominating Sen. John Kerry as his next secretary of state. He said Kerry's entire life "has prepared him for this role."

Kerry is a Democrat and has served as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts since 1985. If confirmed, he would succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Obama's second-term Cabinet.

Clinton had previously announced she would leave at the end of the President's first term. She did not attend today's announcement as she continues to recover from a concussion sustained in a recent fall.

President Obama said Sen. Kerry's political career and service has established him as a respected American voice around the globe.

Kerry has served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is a decorated Vietnam veteran.

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