Report: Kerry to chair Foreign Relations

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will be named chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Boston Globe reported Thursday.

The newspaper said the position would give Kerry significant influence over foreign policy initiatives from the incoming Obama administration.

"He is going to be a facilitator for the president," said Texas Christian University Professor Ralph Carter told the Globe. "That is his style."

Carter added: "The role of Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair is enormously influential. It gives the person who holds it an incredible position to shape policy."

Kerry's name had circulated in Washington as a potential secretary of state; however Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and a few other candidates appeared to be higher on the short list as of Thursday.