{UAH} Caroline Kennedy ready for Japan
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Caroline Kennedy ready for Japan after smooth ride at confirmation hearing
Obama's pick for ambassador to Japan presents studious face to senators – who offer congratulations that the post will be hers
No serious opposition to the appointment of Caroline Kennedy to be the next ambassador to Japan cropped up after her nomination was announced in July – and none attended her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday either.
Kennedy, daughter of the former president and niece of the late Senate lion, presented a studious and earnest face to a panel of senators whose own features were impressed with deeply collegial smiles. She took questions about the trans-Pacific partnership, the Senkaku islands, and the US base on Okinawa. She answered knowledgeably, if briefly. Many senators offered their congratulations on the post that will be hers after a pro forma vote.
"Ms Kennedy has proven herself extraordinarily qualified for the position," New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in an introductory statement. "She has dedicated much of her life to charitable and educational service."
Nominees to ambassadorships fall into two baskets: career civil servants and political picks named by the president to recoup a favor or often many favors.About 30% of appointees, Kennedy among them, fall into the latter category.
But Kennedy's qualifications for the Japanese ambassadorship go beyond the fact that she helped persuade her late uncle, senator Ted Kennedy, to back then-senator Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary race, or the fact that she stood by the president in 2012.
Kennedy has demonstrated a commitment to public-spirited causes, notably the improvement of New York schools. She has management experience running large foundations and she knows how Washington works. She's good at parties. Multiple specialists have noted that Kennedy's celebrity would be welcomed in Japan as a sign that Tokyo is an important US ally.
Critics have pointed to Kennedy's lack of foreign policy or regional experience. But as ambassador she would not be directing the US response if a Japanese boat sinks in the East China Sea (that's what Pacom is for). The role is diplomatic. And the confidence that she has the president's ear – not the case with many career foreign officers – could make her more effective in negotiating sensitive issues such as local resentment of the US base on Okinawa.
If confirmed, Kennedy will be the first woman to hold the ambassadorship. Her forerunners include former vice president Walter Mondale, former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfeld and former House speaker Tom Foley.
"I know that Ted is very proud today to have you here to continue a longstanding tradition of family service to this nation," senator John McCain told Kennedy, referring to the late senator from Massachusetts.
"We look forward to visiting with you in Japan in the near future at the taxpayers' expense."
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