"John, Welcome Home"
Charles Wolfson is State Department Reporter for CBS News.
Most new employees don't get the kind of treatment accorded the State Department's newest hire. But there was his new boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and a few hundred loyal employees gathered in the department's main lobby and they were all applauding with enthusiasm. Rice's welcome said it all: "John, welcome home."
During his career, Negroponte noted, the world has gone from 99 countries in 1960 to 192 today.
The brief ceremony came as a winter storm approached the nation's capital causing the federal government to send most non-essential employees home early and Negroponte, a practiced bureaucrat as well as a skilled diplomat, was happy to pass along the good news. "I'm delighted that one of my first acts is to declare this a snow day," he said to much applause. "Although no doubt you are the essential personnel." Laughter filled the hall as Rice and Negroponte worked the crowd.
In a more serious moment, Negroponte referred to the increased need for diplomacy in today's world where he and his colleagues have to deal not only with officials in other countries but also with non-state actors whose actions affects American policies abroad.
The Deputy's post has been vacant for the past eight months and many at State have eagerly awaited someone to take on the job of managing the day to day problems that confront any large bureacracy. Negroponte is also expected to keep a close watch on Iraq and other sensitive issues. Those who had to stay at the office this winter day easily saw the benefits of having one of their own in the highest reaches of the department.