Kerry Replaces Biden on Foreign Relations Committee

John Kerry will be the next chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Boston Globe reports, replacing Joe Biden when he assumes the vice presidency in January. Kerry plans to use his new post to ramp up anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, aides to the Massachusetts Democrat said.

The chairmanship is also a symbolic pinnacle for Kerry—his first appearance in the Senate was testifying before the committee in 1971 as a 27-year-old Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist. The role “gives the person who holds it an incredible position to shape policy,’ said one analyst, with the committee evaluating foreign treaties and holding confirmation hearings for State Department nominees, among other duties. (More President Obama stories.)