Biden names veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador
Focus will be on restoring trust and professionalism to US diplomacy
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Your support makes all the difference.President-elect Joe Biden has named Linda Thomas-Greenfield as his pick to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.
The announcement came with a number of other nominations to key cabinet posts with an aim of restoring “respected American leadership abroad and dignified leadership at him”, while also fulfilling a commitment to a more diverse cabinet.
The veteran diplomat has a foreign service career dating back to the Reagan administration and has served as ambassador to Liberia from 2008 to 2012, as well as postings in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria and Jamaica.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield also served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during Barack Obama’s second term, where she focused on the development and management of US policy toward sub-Saharan Africa.
Prior to that appointment, she served as director general of the foreign service and director of human resources, leading a team in charge of the State Department’s 70,000-strong workforce.
After being let go from her role in the early days of the Trump administration, Ms Thomas-Greenfield became a senior vice president at Albright Stonebridge Group, leading the Africa practice.
She served as co-chair of the Advisory Committee for a Council on Foreign Relations Special Report, Revitalizing the State Department and American Diplomacy.
She will focus on restoring trust and professionalism to US foreign relations and encouraging greater diversity in the ranks of the diplomatic service.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield will join Mr Biden’s pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in this effort.
The president-elect seems set to have a more gender-balanced and diverse cabinet, with women taking many senior roles — potentially including secretary of defence, CIA director and attorney general.
Mr Biden also named Avril Haines as the director of national intelligence, the first woman to serve in the role.
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