Sept. 26 (UPI) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who served during the Obama administration, watched Tuesday as her official portrait was unveiled at the State Department, calling it an “incredibly emotional moment.”
“Looking out and seeing so many of you whom I was privileged to serve over my four years,” Clinton said before the portrait, painted by Steven Polson, was unveiled. “Now, 14 years ago, hard to believe, I knew there was something very special about this place and that having the singular honor of leading the State Department and USA ID would be an incredible, both personal and professional, experience.”
“Today, I was honored to return to the State Department and join Secretary of State Antony Blinken in unveiling my official portrait as 67th Secretary of State,” Clinton wrote Tuesday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Today, I was honored to return to the @StateDept and join @SecBlinken in unveiling my official portrait as 67th Secretary of State.
We’re delighted to share it with the American public right here, in case you don’t make it in person to headquarters in Foggy Bottom anytime soon. pic.twitter.com/YcPymY77aq— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 26, 2023
As it was unveiled, Clinton quipped that she had not seen the portrait — which shows her standing in front of an American flag — in quite a while.
“Between COVID, between not wanting to finish it during the prior administration,” Clinton said in a jab at former President Donald Trump, whom she lost the election to in 2016. Besides being the Democratic presidential nominee, Clinton was first lady to former President Bill Clinton — who also attended Tuesday’s ceremony — as well as the first woman from New York elected to the U.S. Senate.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken introduced Clinton, saying she was about to “join this esteemed group” of predecessors lining the wood-paneled mahogany wall on the seventh floor walk to the secretary’s office.
“Secretary Clinton, your leg of the race helped revitalize the power and the purpose of American diplomacy. It reminded the world of who America is and what we stand for, and helped us achieve our mission,” Blinken said.
“Secretary Clinton had this vision from the outset. She pledged, and I quote, ‘to deal with the urgent, the important and the long-term all at the same time.’ That means managing day-in and day-out crises, which she did incredibly deftly, including by brokering a landmark ceasefire in the Middle East,” Blinken added.
In her own remarks, Clinton thanked Blinken and everyone at the State Department as she praised the Biden administration for “the continuation of a lot of the values and priorities that we worked on.”
“Defending democracy in Ukraine, expanding NATO. Just as an aside, too bad, you brought this on yourself,” Clinton said, in a swipe at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Facing down Russian aggression, managing the challenges from China, using creative diplomacy in the Indo Pacific,” Clinton added, “and strengthening our alliances and partnerships.”
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