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The Department of State unveiled a portrait of its 67th secretary, Hillary Rodham Clinton, this week, adding it to a historically and artistically significant gallery that includes paintings of Thomas Jefferson, the first U.S. secretary of state, and his many successors in the role.
The full collection of preserved diplomatic history dates from the time of America’s founding and includes rare porcelain, antique furniture and oil paintings from the 18th century to the present day. Virginia Hart, director of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms where the collection is housed, says the portraits of secretaries of state tell the story of the nation’s artistic development.
Among the early portraits, Jefferson’s is among the most striking. Having served as secretary from 1790–1793, before becoming the third U.S. president in 1801, Jefferson sat for several artists. The State Department’s 1791 portrait, attributed to artist Charles Willson Peale, arguably captures the first secretary at his most dynamic.
He is posed against a plain backdrop. (Increasingly, American artists stripped background details from portraits in order to highlight the leaders themselves and to imply their democratic values by eliminating ornate furnishings.)
Jefferson, in his 40s, appears youthful and alert, his head turned in a three-quarters view as he looks into the distance. The portrait creates the impression of a statesman leading a young nation as it forges an experiment in self-governance.
Jasmine Sewell, an expert on portraiture whose New York-based company, Sewell Fine Portraiture, represents contemporary portrait artists, notes that 18th- and 19th-century American artists, nevertheless, did go overseas to study the techniques of their European contemporaries, as museums and art academies were not yet well established in the New World.
These American artists took note of their European peers’ handling of color, tone and composition, with special attention to the works of Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, Sewell says.
While some artists of that era created portraits marred by stiffness, others found ways to create dignified portrayals that left room for originality. And, while Cabinet secretaries tend to evoke fairly conventional representations, some portraits in in the State Department’s collection pushed boundaries.
Take George Peter Alexander Healy’s 1883 portrait of Elihu Benjamin Washburne (at left, above). Painted from life, it shows a seated Washburne leaning forward and locking eyes with the viewer. The pose suggests considerable force of character. Another example is John Singer Sargent’s 1897 portrait of Thomas F. Bayard (at center, above). Loose brushstrokes outline the lightly modeled figure, lending it a modern touch and focusing attention on Bayard’s face, which is partly in shadow.
More recently, the 1950 portrait of Dean Acheson (at right, above) by Gardner Cox departed from convention, with its almost abstract backdrop. Its restraint marks it as a more contemporary work of the midcentury era.
Clinton’s portrait — painted by Steven Polson, who also painted former secretaries Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice — shows her smiling and standing sideways in front of an unfurled U.S. flag. Her hands are clasped as she looks off to her right.
Polson prepares for any portrait by researching his subjects and examining photos of them before meeting them. At the first meeting, he takes his own photos for preliminary sketches. Later, he submits two sketches to a subject for his or her consideration before the real work begins. While some are initially nervous to pose, or sit, for a portrait, most enjoy the process once it’s underway.
He enjoys getting to know his subjects. He found Clinton to be relaxed and witty. She asked about Polson’s new baby and talked about being a grandmother. (Albright brought doughnuts and coffee to the studio. Powell talked of his hobby of fixing old cars. Rice, who welcomed him into her home for a photo shoot, was gracious and pleasant.)
Polson says that an artist has to keep trying until he gets it right. If a sitter’s spouse or children react with joy to a portrait, he knows he’s got it. “With portraiture, you’re trying to do something that people will enjoy and look at,” he says. “And there has to be some graphic strength, so it won’t fade into the wall.” (In artistic terms, “graphic strength” refers to a clear, vivid picture that draws the viewer’s attention.)
Painting Cabinet members is like painting other portraits, except in one regard, Polson says: “What’s behind a Cabinet member’s official portrait is love and admiration for the service a person has given to their country and how they’re loved by the people who worked with them.”
For decades, U.S. musicians have traveled the world offering beats and solos in a cultural exchange aimed at promoting better understanding between countries.
This tradition of music diplomacy dates to the mid-1950s, when the U.S. Department of State invited jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan to play in countries where few people had seen concerts starring American musicians.
These Jazz Ambassadors traveled to Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South America and South Asia, drawing large crowds. They visited schools and collaborated with local musicians. Many played a raucous, free-flowing style of music that some say reflects the lively debate that often appears in American society and reflects its democracy.
“In jazz, you are not afraid to improvise. In jazz, you have to listen,” Nicholas Cull, public diplomacy professor at the University of Southern California told Voice of America in 2009. “Those are both profoundly central aspects of the American political system. And you could not listen to this music without experiencing those principles and sharing in that freedom.”
Or as Willis Conover, who hosted VOA’s jazz hour for 41 years, put it in the 1950s: People “love jazz because they love freedom.” In 1955, the New York Times called jazz America’s “secret sonic weapon” in the Cold War.
As times changed, U.S. music diplomacy expanded to reflect America’s diverse musical genres:
In 2022, President Biden signed into law the bipartisan Promoting Peace, Education, and Cultural Exchange (PEACE) Through Music Diplomacy Act, which calls for music diplomacy partnerships to include the private sector and for recognition of musicians who have contributed to peace.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a music enthusiast and self-described amateur guitarist, says the work of American musicians “gets people to see each other’s humanity, build a sense of common purpose, change the minds of those who misunderstand us and tell the American story in a way no policy or speech ever could.”
The U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America has proven successful, according to a monitoring report that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently published.
U.S. departments and agencies recorded improvements in 15 of 20 key areas from the previous year, according to a progress report submitted to the U.S. Congress (PDF, 1.6MB) by the U.S. Department of State. The results are based on fiscal year 2022, the strategy’s first full year of implementation. Those efforts are focused on Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
The strategy uses the power and resources of the U.S. federal government and the public and private sectors to address the underlying issues causing Central Americans to migrate to the United States. Vice President Kamala Harris is leading U.S. efforts on this issue.
Poverty is a key root cause of migration, and increased productivity and production of smallholder farmers or firms helps to reduce it. USAID-supported firms secured more than $320 million in sales during the strategy’s first year. USAID leveraged $189 million from the public and private sectors to raise productivity and incomes for more than 60,000 agricultural industry producers involved in food security programs in Guatemala and Honduras.
A 2022 survey from the Latin American Public Opinion Project found that mothers who cannot feed their families are more likely to migrate irregularly. USAID food security programming helped food reach more than 104,000 individuals.
USAID also connected with more than 465,000 youngsters by supporting primary and secondary education in areas of high migration in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. More than 300,000 students received nutrition or other assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, helping to prevent and treat malnutrition and decrease child mortality.
Supporting governments’ judicial systems is crucial for transparency and accountability in democratic societies. The ability of those systems to perform — as measured by prosecutions and convictions — also affects irregular migration.
That’s why USAID provided anti-corruption training to more than 8,000 individuals. The training helps partner government officials manage accountability systems, punish corrupt actors and understand the ethical norms attached to their official roles.
The State Department and USAID supported more than 1,500 human rights defenders in Central America and trained more than 300 on effective communication, human rights violation documentation and other skills for reporting and advocacy.
Job creation leads to economic opportunity, especially for youth who are likely to migrate or are in danger of getting involved in illegal activities. To that end, USAID’s support for nearly 8,000 private sector firms in northern Central America has helped create and sustain more than 90,000 jobs.
Vice President Harris’ Central America Forward initiative, which has galvanized more than $4.2 billion in private sector commitments to northern Central America, complements these efforts.
“When we create economic opportunity in these regions, as we have done, we can potentially have a great impact on those who otherwise would leave home and allow them the opportunity to stay in their home country, which is where they prefer to be,” Harris said in February.
Speaking to world leaders, President Biden said the United States will work with any country that shares a vision of a future where children do not go hungry, opportunity is open to everyone and conflicts are resolved peacefully.
“The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people,” Biden said September 19 at the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. “We know our future is bound to yours. And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.”
The president urged countries to work together to combat the climate crisis, promote development, reduce food insecurity and fight disease. Countries must also protect the core U.N. values of sovereignty, territorial integrity and human rights, he added.
“The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound up with yours. And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.” – @POTUS pic.twitter.com/OPmP7f8v07 — Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) September 19, 2023
“The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound up with yours. And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.”
– @POTUS pic.twitter.com/OPmP7f8v07
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) September 19, 2023
In calling for greater cooperation, Biden outlined the United States’ current efforts with international partners to work toward a safer, better world.
Biden urged global institutions to be more responsive, effective and inclusive. He commended the Group of 20’s (G20) admission of the African Union as a permanent member of the international economic forum.
The president said his administration has asked the U.S. Congress for additional funding to expand the World Bank’s financing by $25 billion.
The United States and other Group of Seven countries aim to bring more than $600 billion in public and private sector funding for infrastructure development in low- and middle-income countries by 2027, Biden said. The United States has already worked to bring more than $30 billion.
In calling for greater global investment to combat the climate crisis, Biden cited heat waves in the U.S. and China. He also noted wildfires in North America and southern Europe, and devastating floods in Libya.
Last year, the United States enacted the world’s largest investment to combat the climate crisis and advance a global clean energy economy. The U.S. also works with the Pacific Islands Forum to help nations better address climate impacts.
While the world is on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s $100 billion pledge this year to advance climate resilience in developing nations, Biden said more public and private sector investment is needed, especially to assist nations facing the worst effects of climate change.
Biden also called for advancing the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals that seek to end poverty and reduce inequality, while tackling climate change and protecting the environment.
Conflict, the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have stymied development and contributed to a global food crisis, Biden said. Since January 2021, the United States has invested more than $100 billion to drive development, bolster food security and fight disease around the world.
Countries must continue to stand up to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to stop the brutal, unjust war and deter future aggression, Biden said. “If we abandon the core principles of [the U.N. Charter] to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?” the president asked.
“The United States, together with our allies and partners around the world, will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Biden said. “And their freedom.”
In Madagascar’s Tsarazaza village, people have long relied on candles, solar power or generators for light. The farming community’s remote location, 10 hours from the capital of Antananarivo, has kept Tsarazaza beyond the reach of the country’s power grid.
In November 2020, Power Africa, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $1.2 million to develop mini-grids to deliver sustainable energy to Tsarazaza and other rural communities in central Madagascar.
The improvements have allowed Alfred Rajaonarivelo to reopen the printing business he closed after struggling with the high cost of maintaining solar panels.
“We’ve been waiting for so long, and finally, it’s not a dream anymore. It’s reality,” said Rajaonarivelo, a retired teacher. “Electricity improves our daily life. I am so happy.”
Only about one fourth of Madagascar’s population has access to electricity. Geographic barriers and the high cost of extending electricity grids have complicated efforts to deliver electrical infrastructure to rural communities. While mini-grids have proven vital for providing electricity to remote areas, developers often lack financing to install the systems.
Power Africa convenes governments, the private sector and international development organizations to increase energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. The program’s grants are funding development of mini-grids that will connect roughly 1,500 homes in Madagascar to electricity for the first time.
One Power Africa grantee, Hydro Ingenierie Études Et Réalisations (HIER) has already connected almost 800 households to sustainable power through mini-grids. HIER applied for a Power Africa mini-grid development grant to connect Tsarazaza and nearby Fandriana to electricity. The company previously built a hydro-powered mini-grid plant that successfully connected the village of Morarano to electricity.
Power Africa awarded funds to HIER for equipment to construct roughly 17 kilometers of transmission and 30 kilometers of distribution lines to bring electricity to Tsarazaza and Fandriana. HIER received the equipment to build the distribution network in January 2023 and completed the line extension in May 2023.
A second Power Africa grantee, Autarsys, is working to electrify three villages in the southwestern Atsimo Andrefana region through new hybrid solar-powered mini-grids.
Sahondra Razafindrakaza, a farmer whose solar panel is broken, looks forward to watching TV and listening to the radio when she has access to electricity.
Jaobelina Randriamanatsoa, an 82-year-old who raised 11 children in Tsarazaza while using candles for light agrees. “I’m so happy to have electricity because I can finally watch TV,” he said.
Power Africa previously published a version of this story in Medium.
Yurii Melnyk, a physical therapist from Lviv, Ukraine, said that before Russia’s war against Ukraine, he would see seven patients a day. Today the number can be as many as 30.
Melnyk was among medical professionals from Ukraine who visited U.S. medical facilities over the past year. During those visits, U.S. and Ukraine officials shared their expertise about treating wounded veterans and civilians.
Here is a sampling of the exchanges, organized by the Congressional Office for International Leadership with support from the U.S. State Department. Most included visits to medical facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Fourteen people from Ukraine visited the Tampa VA facility in Florida in January. The facility offers intensive trauma care to veterans dealing with multiple injuries. That includes brain injuries, amputations and spinal cord injuries.
“We wanted them [Ukrainian delegates] to take away some basic knowledge of these catastrophic injuries … and the fact that many of them do improve, many of them do get better,” Steven Scott, the hospital’s chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation, told WUSF public radio.
Taras Voloshyn was among five Ukrainian physicians who visited hospitals in Baltimore. Voloshyn noted that many of the patients he treats suffer from blast injuries. “We are trying to save their limbs,” he said.
Kritis Dasgupta, a physician at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore, explained how medical professionals learned from each other.
“It’s an honor for us to show what we do, share with them our expertise in this area, and learn what is their approach to care, and give them things which will help all the patients back in Ukraine,” Dasgupta said.
In the country’s heartland, Century College in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and the Protez Foundation in Minneapolis offered training in prosthetics to 20 Ukrainian health professionals.
“We have a lot of experience, but we want to be better for our patients,” said Olha Shchehliuk, who works with rehabilitating patients in Kyiv.
Yakov Gradinar, a native of Ukraine who founded Protez, said, “It’s very important for us to help as much as we can.”
Meanwhile in Texas, eight Ukrainian medical professionals visited the VA facility in San Antonio in May.
Serhii Kolisnyk, a physician from Vinnytsia, and his colleagues toured the prosthetic lab and discussed recreation therapies.
“We have a big population and every family, every child, every woman, every combatant has some signs of PTSD,” Kolisnyk said, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder.
“This experience was very beneficial and fruitful for us because we have a lot of complex traumas like spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injures, burns and blinded persons,” Kolisnyk said.
The war creates 300 amputees each day, according to Tetiana Lomakina, a presidential policy adviser from Mariupol who participated in the delegation.
When the exchange concluded, the Ukrainians sang their national anthem to the American hosts.
“I admire you and your country so much, and we hope we helped, not only with the knowledge we imparted, but the partnership and love that went into creating this program,” said Julianne Flynn, the South Texas VA executive director.
Pakistan is a clear example of the far-reaching effects of the climate crisis. In the wake of the 2022 floods that claimed the lives of at least 1,700 people, destroyed millions of homes and decimated large areas of farmland, the United States has provided more than $215 million in flood relief assistance.
But the climate crisis can’t be solved by one country. It requires contributions from partners, which is why the United States and Pakistan are working together through the U.S.-Pakistan Green Alliance framework to advance cooperation in climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy and water management.
The U.S.-Pakistan Green Alliance framework also aims to promote inclusive, sustainable economic growth by expanding bilateral trade and investment and creating new jobs, industries and opportunities.
At a July 6, 2023, event commemorating the partnership, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome said, “The Green Alliance framework isn’t only about mitigating climate change and environmental degradation. It also offers Pakistan tremendous economic opportunity by recognizing that green choices are also increasingly profitable and demanded by private markets.”
The Green Alliance partnership builds on a rich history of U.S.-Pakistan partnership. The United States invested in Pakistan’s electrification more than 50 years ago, constructing dams and hydropower plants that continue to provide reliable, efficient and clean energy today.
These projects dramatically increased Pakistan’s electricity capacity — today powering the homes of more than 50 million people. The dams also help to prevent catastrophic water shortages, mitigate the effects of flooding and expand agricultural productivity.
One of several priority projects under the Green Alliance framework was the completion of a $150 million project to refurbish and improve the Mangla Dam Hydro Power Station’s power generation capacity in collaboration with the private sector and Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority.
The Mangla Dam is one of three Pakistani dam renovation projects the United States has funded.
Other Green Alliance initiatives include:
The Green Alliance partnership builds on a rich history. In the 1960s, the United States backed Pakistan’s Green Revolution, which boosted crop yields, improved economic opportunities for Pakistanis, increased food security and life expectancy.
The U.S.-Pakistan Green Alliance framework doesn’t just face the climate crisis — it addresses it with innovation, solidarity and partnership and represents the power of collective action.
“As we look back on more than 75 years of friendship between the United States and Pakistan, we should be proud of our accomplishments,” Blome said. “From the Green Revolution of the 1960s to today’s U.S.-Pakistan Green Alliance, we have forged a partnership that has weathered many challenges and become stronger for them.”
Working with international partners to solve global challenges is central to the United States’ vision for a more prosperous and secure world for all, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
“At the core of our strategy is re-engaging, revitalizing, and reimagining our greatest strategic asset: America’s alliances and partnerships,” the secretary said in a major foreign policy speech September 13 in Washington.
Blinken said the crises that upended the post-Cold War era — climate change, food insecurity and rising authoritarianism, among others — cannot be solved by any one country working alone. Instead, the United States has worked with partners to:
Here are excerpts from the secretary’s speech:
President Biden will address the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly September 19.
At a meeting with her Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts at the end of this month, State Department Special Advisor on International Disability Rights Sara Minkara will work with them to increase the rights of people with disabilities while strengthening the U.S.-ASEAN partnership.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1990, provides accommodations for people with disabilities, if necessary, so that they can study or work. Similar laws have been passed in other countries, from the United Kingdom to Mongolia.
These laws and policies protect people with disabilities while boosting economies and societies.
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