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Clinton swears in former aide as pol-mil assistant secretary

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swore in her longtime Senate aide Andrew Shapiro as her assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs today. Shapiro served as Clinton’s senior defense and foreign policy advisor from 2001 until 2009. Previously, he was counsel to the Justice Department’s International Competition Policy Advisory Committee, an associate at ...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swore in her longtime Senate aide Andrew Shapiro as her assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs today.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swore in her longtime Senate aide Andrew Shapiro as her assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs today.

Shapiro served as Clinton’s senior defense and foreign policy advisor from 2001 until 2009. Previously, he was counsel to the Justice Department’s International Competition Policy Advisory Committee, an associate at Covington & Burling law firm, and, before law and graduate school, a senior research assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The ceremony was very nice, a person who attended it in the State Department’s seventh-floor treaty room told The Cable. "She was very gracious and funny. Andrew gave a good speech too" and told a few stories from their time together in the Senate.

"She told a really funny story about interviewing him, that she thought to herself that he would ‘calm down’ once he had the job," the attendee continued. "And she said something like, ‘Well, we’re still waiting 8 years later.’"

"Andrew’s [swearing in] was really special," another associate says. "He has been with her for nearly a decade, [and] went from sitting behind her at [the Senate Armed Services Committee] to sitting before" the Senate Foreign Relations Committee testifying as a nominee.

A lot of former Senate staff and extended family attended Shapiro’s swearing in, the associate said (today’s event was ceremonial; Shapiro was formally sworn in immediately after being confirmed late last month). "She really loves and values him. That she trusted him with this huge job is indicative of that."

Laura Rozen writes The Cable daily at ForeignPolicy.com.

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