[al-Monitor] Even before he became secretary of state, John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
vowed to stop Iran from gaining an atomic bomb and warned the clock was ticking on reining in its nuclear ambitions.
But few if any of his fellow senators were aware during his January 2013 confirmation hearing that Kerry had already made tentative steps to try to bring Iran back to nuclear talks as part of a secret overture by President Barack Obama
My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it...
Just over two years later, Kerry and his team of diplomats and experts have pulled off a tough assignment -- laying out the contours of a deal to sharply cut back Tehran's nuclear program.
Even though the final accord has yet to be agreed, it is a huge achievement for the 71-year-old who took over as America's top diplomat in February 2013, a month after calling for "fresh thinking" to resolve global problems at his confirmation hearing.
The son of a diplomat, who grew up in the rubble of post-World War II Europe, Kerry has diplomacy running through his DNA.
After his failed 2004 bid for the presidency, serving as secretary of state is the pinnacle of his career.