John Kerry Becomes First Secretary of State to Travel to All 7 Continents
The United States Secretary of State has one of the most high-stakes jobs in the world, and certainly one of the most exhausting. One aspect that everyone can't help but be a little jealous of is the near-constant travel schedule that the Secretary maintains. Secretary John Kerry, who has dedicated a significant amount of time and effort to researching the effects of climate change, will travel to McMurdo Station, a US research center in Antarctica in order to prepare for the upcoming climate talks in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Not only will Secretary Kerry have visited all seven continents, he's also the most-traveled Secretary of State ever, according to total miles traveled. Since 2013, Secretary Kerry has logged over 1.3 million miles traveled while visiting 90 countries and spending almost 120 days in the air if you add up all the hours he's spent in-flight. He often completed whirlwind trips on a special military version of a Boeing 757 known as the C-32 to several destinations in just a few days to places such as Rwanda, Ukraine, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cuba and many, many more countries in 2016 alone.
Kerry's travel has easily surpassed that of two of his predecessors, Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice. Rice traveled 1.06 million miles while she held the position under President George W. Bush, and Clinton traveled about 957,000 miles while she was Secretary under President Barack Obama. Secretary Clinton, however, holds a record of her own. She visited an astonishing 112 countries while in office, more than any of her predecessors. Too bad they couldn't collect points and miles for all of those hours spent in the air!
H/T: NPR