Obama Unveils His National Security Team
Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks as Vice President-elect Joe Biden, President-elect Barack Obama and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton listen.
President-elect Barack Obama on Monday officially introduced the members of his national security team, including former Democratic primary rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state and Robert Gates, who will be remain as defense secretary.
Obama also announced that retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones -- a former top commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Europe -- would be his national security adviser.
"I am confident that this is the team that we need to make a new beginning for American national security," Obama told reporters during a morning news conference in Chicago.
Obama's team will advise him on foreign and national security issues in an era marked by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorism around the globe. Obama takes office Jan. 20.
Obama said his team "must pursue a new strategy that skillfully uses, balances, and integrates all elements of American power: our military and diplomacy, our intelligence and law enforcement, our economy and the power of our moral example.
"The team that we have assembled here today is uniquely suited to do just that," he added as his Cabinet picks stood behind him on a flag-draped stage. "They share my pragmatism about the use of power, and my sense of purpose about America's role as a leader in the world."
Obama named Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Naploitano as homeland security chief. He also named two senior foreign policy positions outside the Cabinet, including campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador.
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