WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 2004 and has pined for the job of top diplomat, vaulted to the head of President Obama's short list of secretary of state candidates after UN Ambassador Susan Rice suddenly withdrew from consideration to avoid a contentious confirmation fight with emboldened Republicans.
The exit of Rice and elevation of Kerry shook up Washington on Thursday and was coupled with the potential for even bolder second-term changes in Obama's national security team next month. Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, emerged as the front-runner to serve as defense secretary.
The possible selection of Kerry and Hagel would put two decorated Vietnam War veterans — one Navy, the other Army — at State and the Pentagon.
Official word on replacements for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in an Obama Cabinet remake could come as early as next week. The choice of Kerry would open a Massachusetts Senate seat, boosting the prospects for recently defeated Republican Sen. Scott Brown to win back a job in Washington.
Kerry, a senator for nearly three decades and the current Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, has won praise from his Senate Democratic and Republican colleagues and should be confirmed easily, if nominated. He has been Obama's envoy to hot spots such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, the administration's point man in 2010 on a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia and was a stand-in for Republican Mitt Romney during Obama's debate preparation.
Hagel was a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee during his years in the Senate. He and Obama became close while they served in the Senate and traveled overseas together. Hagel has irked some in the GOP with his complaints that the party has moved too far to the right and for his endorsements of Democrats, most recently Bob Kerrey in last month's Nebraska Senate race.
"He's a combat vet who was wounded twice and understands that the decisions we make here are carried out by our young men and women" in the military, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, a member of the Armed Services Committee.
It would be highly unusual for Hagel's political moves to sink his nomination, even in bitterly divided Washington.
But Democrats blamed politics for Rice's demise as a possible candidate. They clearly insinuated that Republicans who failed to get any traction in using the deadly September attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, to derail Obama's re-election bid instead took down Rice.
Kerry, Hagel front-runners to lead State, Defense
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Kerry, Hagel front-runners to lead State, Defense
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Kerry, Hagel front-runners to lead State, Defense
