PRESIDENT Barack Obama
has named Caroline Kennedy as US ambassador to Japan, in the biggest foray into
public service for John F Kennedy's sole surviving child.
The former first daughter, who long resisted running for public
office, may enter a larger limelight than anytime since her youth as she takes
a key diplomatic role.
In an understated rollout to the long rumoured nomination, Obama
called Kennedy and several nominees to other posts "fine public
servants".
"Our nation will be well-served by these individuals, and I
look forward to working with them in the months and years to come," he
said in a statement on Wednesday.
Kennedy needs confirmation by the Senate, but she has no open
critics and the body is led by the Democratic Party that reveres her father.
The 55-year-old, whom many Americans remember as a girl in the
White House, was an early and close Obama supporter.
When the then-senator was locked in a tough fight for the
Democratic presidential nomination against perceived front-runner Hillary Clinton,
Kennedy threw her family's prestige behind Obama by calling him "a
president like my father".
Kennedy has limited experience in foreign affairs and is not known
for her connection to Japan, although her father was injured in World War II's
Pacific theatre.
The prospect of Kennedy's nomination had already been welcomed by
Japan, a close US ally which is accustomed to high-profile US ambassadors.
Previous US ambassadors have included former vice president Walter
Mondale, former speaker of the House Tom Foley and former Senate majority
leader Howard Baker.
If confirmed, Kennedy would be the first woman to take up the
post, a feat sure to be noticed in a country that has historically ranked lower
than other wealthy nations in terms of women's empowerment.
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