Former first lady and 67th Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was back at the State Department on Tuesday for the unveiling of her official portrait, calling it “an incredibly emotional moment.”
Delivering remarks at the ceremony, Clinton – who served in the role from 2009 to 2013 during the Obama administration – reminisced on how she sought to “restore America’s commitment to diplomacy and development” when she took on the Secretary of State job.
“And we have seen the continuation of a lot of the values and priorities that we worked on into the Biden administration,” she said, specifically noting how Russia’s war in Ukraine has brought America and its allies “closer together” rather than “driving a stake between us.”
“Just as an aside; too bad, Vladimir,” she quipped, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “You brought it on yourself.”
In remarks to introduce Clinton, current Secretary of State Antony Blinken said she “led with both America’s values and our interests in calling out Putin for who he really is – from the start.”
Blinken described the walk to the secretary’s office in the Department of State building: “You pass through the stately diplomatic reception rooms and then down that wood-paneled mahogany row, surrounded by portraits of our predecessors,” adding “all but three of them, white men.”
“Now, beginning today, another secretary will join this esteemed group – a secretary who helped transform American diplomacy for the 21st century,” he said.
Blinken praised Clinton for her work on women’s rights and gay rights as well as her engagement with the Indo-Pacific specifically, noting she “elevated our focus on the extraordinarily complex relationship with China.”
Clinton was the first woman to be chosen as her party’s nominee for president in the 2016 election, but ultimately lost the general to former President Donald Trump. Clinton joked about her former rival candidate, saying she had not seen her portrait in a while because of “not wanting to finish it during the prior administration.”
Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was in attendance on Tuesday for the unveiling. The former Secretary of State quipped that she calls him “42nd” around the house, referring to his service as the 42nd President of the United States.