
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 29, 1993                   TAG: 9312290081
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CLINTON PAL NO. 2 AT STATE DEPARTMENT

Strobe Talbott, a friend of President Clinton and architect of the administration's Russia policy, was named Tuesday to the No. 2 post at the State Department. "I relish the chance to broaden out a bit," he declared.

The selection was announced at a news conference in Los Angeles by Secretary of State Warren Christopher. "I will try to help you in any way that I can," Talbott promised. The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

At 47, and with only eight months of diplomatic experience, Talbott, a former Time magazine correspondent, vaulted past senior career diplomats to the powerful post of deputy secretary of state. But Christopher, a non-professional who held the job himself in the Carter administration, said Talbott was "the best person for the job."

"My choice was quite deliberate," Christopher said. "It seemed to me it is very desirable to have somebody of the president's generation." He called Talbott "an experienced, mature person" who will bring to the job "the vigor and drive and experience of youth."

Clinton, vacationing in Little Rock, Ark., said he was "delighted" at Christopher's selection of Talbott.

by CNB