John Kerry has been named by American academics as the least effective secretary of state in the past 50 years, a new survey finds.
The survey, conducted by Foreign Policy Magazine, polled professors at the top 25 foreign policy schools across the country.
Henry Kissinger, who served in the role under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, topped the list, scoring 32.21 percent, which is “extraordinary in such a large field,” according to Washington Post political bloggers Al Kamen and Colby Itkowitz.
The answer “don’t know” came in a relatively distant second, with 18.32 percent, note the bloggers, and was followed by James Baker, who received 17.71 percent.
After Baker come Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton (8.70 percent); George Shultz (5.65 percent); Dean Rusk, who served in the Kennedy-Johnson years, and came in seventh at 3.51 percent; Warren Christopher and Cyrus Vance (1.53 percent); Colin Powell (1.07 percent); Condoleezza Rice (0.46 percent); and Lawrence Eagleburger with only 0.31 percent.
Kerry is “dead last” on this list, Kamen and Itkowitz wrote. He got a total of two votes of the 660 scholars who responded and actually tied with Eagleburger’s 0.31 percent, the magazine lists him at 13th.
Kerry, and President Barack Obama’s foreign policy in general, have come under fire from critics, particularly within the Republican party.
Arizona Senator John McCain, for example, attacked Kerry’s efforts to force through a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority on Israel, calling him a “human wrecking ball” last November.
Other foreign policy-related issues which have been criticized by the Republicans include the Administration’s handling of the crisis in Russia, as well as a deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan which saw the group release Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban terrorists.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
