Secretary of State Anthony Blanket delivers farewell, urges continued U.S. engagement

Secretary of State Anthony Blanket delivered a farewell address to Department of State staff and diplomats worldwide, urging continued U.S. engagement and cooperation and saying he will return to private life.

Blanket spoke to colleagues at Department of State facilities across the United States and at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, thanking staff and listing senior aides and deputies by name. A Department of State official introduced him as “the 71st Secretary of State of the United States of America, Anthony Blanket.”

Why it matters: the secretary framed U.S. foreign policy as facing a period of intensified competition and interlinked global challenges and emphasized the role of career diplomats and agency staff in sustaining American engagement and leadership.

In the address, Blanket said the “weight” of decisions rests on the person who holds the office and reflected on his oath and long career. He said, “Everyone participating here has chosen to serve, to serve the nation, our fellow citizens, and each other,” and later, “I believe in the power, and the necessity of US engagement, and US leadership.” He stressed the importance of cooperation with allies and partners: “America is so much better off when we're working with others, finding common cause, finding common purpose.”

Blanket named senior colleagues and career staff he said supported his tenure, including John Bass; Susie George; Tom Sullivan; Jess Wright; deputy secretaries Kurt Campbell and Rich Verma; predecessors Wendy Sherman and Brian McKeon; and executive assistant Paul Moraine. He recounted a 32-year foreign-service career that began in the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs and said he led the department for four years.

He described the current international environment as unusually complex and fast-moving: “there's a greater multiplicity, complexity, interconnectedness of challenges, than ever before,” and said new actors and technologies both enable problem-solving and increase the ability to disrupt diplomacy. He urged staff to continue their work, calling them “the custodians of the power, and the promise of American diplomacy.”

Blanket invoked a literary comparison to highlight the collective effect of individual service: referencing the film It's a Wonderful Life, he said, “You are the George, the Georgette Baileys of our time.” He said that while he would soon pass the baton, most Department personnel would “keep running” and that he would remain a champion of the institution as a private citizen.

The speech was framed as a farewell and a call to sustain U.S. diplomatic engagement; it did not announce any new policy measures or formal departmental decisions.