Globe account of John Kerry's day Friday

[MBS]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/12/23/trip-arlington-cemetery-departure-staff-members-bookends-kerry-big-day/a4TdkJEAhp2zIGQPFDtWiK/story.html

On the day he was to be tapped as the country’s next secretary of state, Senator John F. Kerry began with a somber reflection on the costs of his first government assignment overseas. Accompanied by a lone aide, he drove to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and visited the grave of his college classmate Richard Pershing, who died in the Vietnam War. . .Before departing for Arlington National Cemetery, the senator had a phone conversation with his younger daughter, ­Vanessa, and an iPad video look at his 8-month-old grandson, who was in Boston.

Kerry first heard about impending appointment during Inouye's funeral, via text message from David Thorne, who is now (!) ambassador to Italy, who passed on reports from Italian TV. . .he also received more text messages from his staff "urging him to call the office" . (Lest anyone come to the grotesque conclusion that this most civilized and humane of senators has no manners, especially during the funeral of a long-term senator that he cared about, he did not respond to those messages during the funeral : the article emphasized that Kerry was silent during the funeral, and talked to no one at the funeral, not even President Obama, even though the President was sitting only a few rows ahead of him. Instead, after the funeral, "Kerry and his wife raced out of the Cathedral and headed to their home on O Street in Georgetown.&quot

Kerry put on a baby blue tie he had favored for important occasions since his 2004 presidential campaign. He, his wife, and the staff driver then set out for the White House — only to get stuck in a traffic jam. But they made it to the White House with time to spare. Among those greeting him was Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, who had been director of scheduling for Kerry’s failed 2004 presidential campaign. Awaiting them was National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, as well as a larger group that included the senator’s brother, Cam, who is general counsel at the Commerce Department, and former Kerry staffers.
They included Marvin Nicholson, who had traveled every step of the 2004 campaign as Kerry’s personal aide, and who now works as Obama’s trip director; Heather Zichal, a former Kerry legislative director now overseeing White House environmental policy; and Amy Brundage, formerly Kerry’s Senate communications director and now a deputy White House press secretary. . . .Joining them was Deputy OMB Director Heather Higginbottom, who served as deputy policy director for Kerry’s presidential campaign.

As he was leaving the White House, his phone rang. It was UN Ambassador Susan Rice, whose decision a week earlier to drop out of the running for secretary of state had cleared the path to Kerry’s nomination. The senator later described her call and the warm sentiments she conveyed as “very, very thoughtful.”

From there, it was back to business as usual. Kerry went straight to the Capitol, where he cast the first of five votes. . . Kerry also assembled his staff, becoming emotional as he told them, “I never would have had this day were it not for you: the best staff I’ve ever had, the best staff in the Senate, and the best for Massachusetts.” By the time he left his office, the emotion of the day’s beginning had been replaced by the cold reality of politics: Two of his health care aides already had been hired by Senators Bill Nelson and ­Dianne Feinstein, also Democrats.