President Clinton has settled on a slate of ambassadorial appointments that rewards his political friends and talented career diplomats.
Phil Lader, a Democratic Party loyalist known for organizing Renaissance Weekend retreats in South Carolina, will be going to London, several U.S. officials said Wednesday, insisting on anonymity.State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns, who had been mentioned as a candidate for ambassador to the Czech Republic, is instead Clinton's pick for Greece, said officials familiar with the appointment process. A former Russia expert at the National Security Council, Burns also has served in Cairo and Jerusalem.
Atlanta attorney Gordon Giffin, who ran Clinton's 1992 and 1996 campaigns in Georgia, is almost assured of being named ambassador to Canada, a post that has been vacant for more than a year.
And Rep. Thomas Foglietta, a Pennsylvania Democrat with deep family ties in Italy, is in line for the coveted Rome post. The current ambassador to Italy, career diplomat Reginald Bartholomew, is expected to replace Martin Indyk as top envoy to Israel. Indyk, a key Middle East peace negotiator, will head the State Department's Near East bureau.
Clinton hasn't announced his choices, many of whom were settled on during a White House meeting on Monday, said one U.S. official, who added that several candidates were in the final vetting stage.
"They're moving some of these through the pipeline now," press secretary Mike McCurry said of the backlog of appointments.
On Wednesday, Clinton nominated John C. Kornblum to be ambassador to Germany, sending his name to the Senate for confirmation. Kornblum is assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian affairs.
The vacancy he leaves at the State Department will be filled by Marc Grossman, now ambassador to Turkey, the White House said. Grossman has been political officer at the Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.