The official announcements of the long-rumored nominations came as the president traveled to Europe with the goal of demonstrating to global leaders that “America is back at the table.” …
WASHINGTON — President Biden on Tuesday announced his long-awaited first slate of ambassadors, including his nominees for key posts to Mexico, Israel and NATO, as he made his first trip abroad since taking office.
Mr. Biden also named Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the pilot who executed a water landing off Midtown Manhattan after a dual engine failure brought his plane plummeting toward earth, as his nominee for ambassador to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Among the nine nominees announced were Ken Salazar, a former Colorado senator who served as the interior secretary during the Obama administration, as ambassador to Mexico; and Thomas R. Nides, a vice chairman at Morgan Stanley who served as a deputy secretary of state under President Barack Obama, as ambassador to Israel.
The official announcements of the long-rumored nominations came as Mr. Biden traveled to Europe with the goal of demonstrating to global leaders that “America is back at the table.” Mr. Nides’s nomination also came just days after a new government took power in Israel, opening up the possibility of a less contentious relationship with the Biden administration.
Middle East experts praised the selection of Mr. Nides.
“He has the relationships to quickly get access to the very top of the administration at the White House and the State Department,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a former Obama administration official who is now the director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
Other nominees included Julianne Smith, an adviser to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, to serve as ambassador to NATO.
