The Cable

The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

Happy Birthday Secretary Clinton

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton celebrates her 63rd birthday today. State Department employees, fans, and a few journalists had a chance to sing Happy Birthday to Madam Secretary at last night’s screening of Inside the State Department, the new National Geographic documentary about her life "inside the bubble." Clinton graciously tolerated the crowd’s rendition of ...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton celebrates her 63rd birthday today. State Department employees, fans, and a few journalists had a chance to sing Happy Birthday to Madam Secretary at last night's screening of Inside the State Department, the new National Geographic documentary about her life "inside the bubble."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton celebrates her 63rd birthday today. State Department employees, fans, and a few journalists had a chance to sing Happy Birthday to Madam Secretary at last night’s screening of Inside the State Department, the new National Geographic documentary about her life "inside the bubble."

Clinton graciously tolerated the crowd’s rendition of the Happy Birthday song and the National Geographic people even made her a cake with the Department of of State’s official seal on it (pictured above). Clinton will spend the bulk of her special day in New York, giving a speech about the role of women in politics at the U.N. Security Council, but we’re told she already took time to celebrate with her family last weekend while traveling in California.

As for the documentary, it provides previously unseen insights into the workings of the massive operation needed to support Clinton on her overseas trips. Starting with Clinton’s visit to last year’s U.N. General Assembly, the film also follows her to Pakistan and then around the Middle East as she conducted some intensive shuttle diplomacy ahead of the start of peace talks earlier this year.

"This is truly a tribute to the more than 60,000 people who work for the State Department around the world. Now, not all of them could fit into the movie, but without their service standing behind all the faces that you will see and the people that you’ll meet, there are literally hundreds and thousands more who do every day what is necessary to protect America, to promote our values, advance our interests in every corner of the globe," she said during her introductory remarks.

The video included several cameos by key staff, including senior advisors Philippe Reines, Jake Sullivan, Huma Abedin, and others. The New York TimesMark Landler and the AP’s Matt Lee were also featured in interviews.

Writer/director Steve Hoggard was surprised how accessible and down to earth Clinton was when traveling. "One thing that would surprise me is when she would come to the back of the plane without her makeup, without her hair done…. You can’t help but like her," he said.

The movie will air Nov. 8 at 9 PM on the National Geographic channel. Here’s a preview clip:

Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.

Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.

A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.

Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin

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