Next Secretary of StatePresident Barack Obama nominated John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State. He called the veteran US senator as the perfect choice to be the nation’s top diplomat. This is the start of the president’s move to reshape his national security team.

Kerry is currently the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The president settled on Kerry after UN Ambassador Susan Rice, the front runner for the position, withdrew from consideration last week.

President Obama has now named an important piece of his revamped Cabinet but he didn’t announce his choice for the new defense secretary. The postponement came after he was criticized for considering former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to replace Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.

The president said he is confident that the senator would get a swift confirmation from his Senate colleagues. He added that Kerry has earned the respect and confidence of leaders across the globe. He also believes the Kerry doesn’t need a lot of on-the-job training.

There have been speculations that the president would announce his new national security roster, which include a new CIA director, before Christmas. But other matters got in the way, such as the standoff over the fiscal cliff as well as the Newtown shooting.

Kerry will replace Clinton, who has been rated as the most popular member of Obama’s Cabinet. He must also pick up the pieces after the probe on the security lapses made by the State Department with regards to the September 11 attack on the US diplomatic mission in Libya. The report tarnished Clinton’s time as secretary of state.

Kerry’s nomination also came after the political firestorm against Rice, who was seen as the early favorite for the position. Republicans criticized her for her role in the administration’s early statements of the Benghazi assault.