The US Agency for International Development (AID) was abuzz with activity at its Foggy Bottom headquarters, anticipating the first-day arrival of the country's new top diplomat - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton! The 1,000 employees of the department greeted the former first lady with a thunderous applause.

The demoralized State Department was all pepped-up with the presence of the new rock-star Secretary, who played the host to the special event - a foreign policy "who's who" with former cabinet secretaries and the employees of the department.

President Obama's presence further energized the members of the civil and foreign service. He, along with Vice President Joe Biden, stood alongside Clinton as she announced the names of former Sen. George Mitchell and former U. N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as the special envoys - for Middle East, and Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively.

Advocating "smart power," Clinton talked of combining diplomatic efforts with aid projects, assuring her addressees that she would be work towards giving them greater authority and resources, which had largely been shifted to military by the Bush administration.

With aid and relief organizations being concerned over the transfer most of the responsibility for foreign assistance to the military - chiefly for the Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction programs - Clinton pledged to "make sure that USAID assumes once again the global leadership role," emphasizing the need for the agency to produce results for "regaining the authorities and the resources that have drifted elsewhere."