Caroline Kennedy: Diplomat in waiting. By ALIA PAPAGEORGIOU

 JFK sole heir may be new US envoy to Japan

At a ceremony marking 50 years since JF Kennedy's inaugural Presidential address, Joe Biden Vice President in background, 2011. | EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

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APRIL 2, 2013 - 2:01PM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alia Papageorgiou

It started with two reports on Easter Monday falling on 3 April this year, The Washington Post and Bloomberg news ran articles saying that State Department selection procedures for a diplomatic post to Japan were almost compelte for Caroline Kennedy.

The sole remaining heir of John Fitzgerald Kennedy the Former US President and First Lady Jackie Kennedy (later Onassis)  who now presides over the President Kennedy Library, and the JFK School of Politics at Harvard and a strong supporter of President Barack Obama having been the co-chair of his election campaign may be the next Ambassador to the land of hte rising sun, Japan a hot spot for diplomatic efforts and an Asian foothill in international diplomacy circles.

Articles on the topic have underlined the family's and even Caroline's preparedeness for such a move.

Others have noted a lack of knowledge of the local language, but then again this is not all that diplomacy is about.

Diplomacy, a task attributed with vague beginnings to a Persian carrying a letter for two landowners in a land dispute between nations and later on to Italians being the first to send a Milanese envoy to the Parisian court in 1455, has delicate tasks to perform.

A series of notes on a Kennedy Ambassador have underlined the potential for US glamour and a popular figure for the task.

There is as yet no official comment form the White House or the Kennedy side and although some steps have been made to look at the possibility of this Ambassadorial position there is also the chance that a list of other possibilities will be presented before the final decision is made.

John Roos a Silicon Valley CEO is the current Ambassador to Japan for the United States since August 19, 2009.

The United States maintains an embassy in Tokyo, with consulates general in Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Naha and Nagoya.

Since the Embassy openned in 1859 there have been no other female Envoys or Ambassadors representing America.

Following Barack Obama's election in 2008 embassy posts were reported as being placed by those who had helped his campaign with extraordinary efforts or contributions; Caroline Kennedy has been a supporter from day one and fought for his election.

More as news comes in of the post holder in the coming days.