Diplomacy done right!
The Senate confirmed Linda-Thomas Greenfield as the new United Nations Ambassador, The Grio reports.
Thomas-Greenfield is a retired foreign service leader with nearly four decades of experience under her belt. During her time under the Trump administration, she was accused by Republicans of being soft on China after praising the country’s $1 trillion Belt and Road global infrastructure program in Africa, eventually leading Thomas-Greenfield to resign.
The Louisiana State University graduate stressed the importance of re-engaging internationally under the Biden administration. She cited the way Trump’s “America First” policy weakened alliances and isolated the U.S. across the globe. Senators confirmed Thomas-Greenfield 78-20, many trusting her leadership to forge a new path of U.S. diplomacy.
“This confirmation sends a message that the United States is back and that our foreign service is back,” Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, global health and global human rights said. “We as a country and as a world are safer with Linda Thomas-Greenfield serving as the United States ambassador to the United Nations.”
Her appointment makes Thomas-Greenfield the third Black person and only the second Black woman to hold the title. The veteran foreign leader plans to focus on rooting American leadership in core values that reflect all Americans.
“[American leadership must be rooted in] …support for democracy, respect for universal human rights, and the promotion of peace and security. [Effective diplomacy involves] robust relationships [and] doing genuine, old-fashioned, people-to-people diplomacy,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
She reflected on her own life growing up, attending a segregated high school and then LSU as a result of a lawsuit, noting that her presence on an ivy-league campus was not the norm at the time. Her trajectory and career as assistant secretary of state of African affairs and now UN ambassador “represents the progress, and promise, of America,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Congratulations, Linda!
Photo Courtesy of Greg Nash/Pool via Associated Press