Joe Biden appoints first African-American secretary of defense of US
Lloyd Austin
As a part of adding to his cabinet, the US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Lloyd Austin as the first African-American secretary of defense of the US.
Austin led the US troops into Baghdad in 2003 and was chosen as the US Central Command later. The 67-year-old is now retired but has served the US as a four-star army general in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Some believe he was able to beatthe former under-secretary of defense Michele Flournoy for the post simply because of the mounting pressure on Biden for electing more minorities for the positions in his cabinet.
Biden had also promised to promote gender equality in his campaign, and living up to it, he elected US' first all-women senior communication team. Ither than that, from his Vice President-elect to several other key positions, Biden has chosen women to fill the existing gender gap in the White House.
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On Monday it was also reported by the US media that Biden has electeda 62-year-old former congressman and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra for secretary of health and human services. Becerra will be handling the COVID-19 pandemic in the country as soon as he joins the cabinet.
"Biden is living up to his commitment to make the cabinet a reflection of the diversity," said Robert Garcia, mayor of Long Beach, California, and a longtime ally of Becerra and Biden.
Garcia said Becerra "has a strong record on healthcare but I think it goes beyond that. The president-elect selected someone with the highest levels of integrity and intellect."