This afternoon, outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her farewell speech to the State Department, praising her colleagues and expressing deep gratitude for having been given the opportunity to be the United States’ top diplomat for four years.
“I cannot fully express how grateful I am to those with whom I have spent many hours here in Washington, around the world, and in airplanes,” she told the crowd. “But I’m proud of the work we have done to elevate diplomacy and development, to serve the nation we all love, to understand the challenges, the threats, and the opportunities that the United States faces, and to work with all our heart and all of our might, to make sure that America is secure, that our interests are promoted, and our values are respected.”
She told her former subordinates: “I will miss you. I will probably be dialing ops just to talk. I will wonder what you all are doing, because I know that because of your efforts, day after day, we are making a real difference. But I leave this department confident, confident about the direction we have set.”
She expressed how “challenging” it’s been to say goodbye to so many people with whom she has grown close. She told the group that she hopes “you will redouble your efforts to do all that you can to demonstrate unequivocally why diplomacy and development are right up there with defense” and that she expects them to “be as focused and dedicated for Secretary Kerry as you have been for me, and that you will continue to serve President Obama and our nation with the same level of professionalism and commitment that I have seen firsthand.”
Watch the full speech below, via CNN:
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