WASHINGTON- Secretary of State John Kerry brought a special family friend with him to work at Foggy Bottom Thursday.
With his daughters, Alexandria and Vanessa, full-grown, Kerry’s guest to the annual “Take Your Child to Work Day” event at the State Department was his Labrador retriever, Benjamin Franklin Kerry.
“He’s — it’s Ben. He’s named after Ben Franklin,” the Secretary of State’s introduction was cut mid-sentence when the yellow puppy bounced straight-up, almost reaching the height of his tall owner’s shoulders.
“He’s frisky. He was two-years old yesterday [Wednesday],” Kerry said. “It was his birthday. And he came in yesterday and he’s gotten very excited about it,” Kerry’s remarks in the Dean Acheson Auditorium attracted applause and laughter from the audience of more than 100 adults and children.
It turns out Ben even has his own Twitter account, @DiploMutt.
Take Your Child to Work at the State Department is part of the larger educational program sponsored by the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.
The program was designed for children ages eight to 18. It was developed to “encourage girls and boys across the country to dream without gender limitations and to think imaginatively about their family, work and community lives.”
More than 37 million family members participated in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day last year at more than 3.5 million workplaces nationwide. This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the program. This year’s theme: “Knowledge + Choice = Strength.”
Christina Porche, a program analyst at State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said she brought in her nine year-old son, Kayem Porche, so he could pick up a better sense of his mom’s career.
“Being physically present and being able to see the other people that we work with gives him a more concrete understanding of what I do when I leave the door,” said Porche.
While Ben looked on at the edge of the stage, Kerry conducted an “Oath of Office” for the children present at the ceremony so they could become temporary special employees at the State Department.
Secretary of State John Kerry shares a moment with Ben after giving a speech at the “Take Your Child to Work” event on Thursday. Yinmeng Liu/MEDILL
He also took questions from the kids.
“One of the things I would say to all of you kids is that there is nothing you can’t do,” Kerry said. “Every one of you – any one of you could become secretary of state. Any one of you could become president…the important thing is to do what you do as well as you can.”