President Clinton yesterday nominated Mr Richard Holbrooke, who brokered the Bosnia peace agreement in 1995, to replace Mr Bill Richardson as the US ambassador to the United Nations. Mr Clinton also named Mr Richardson as Energy Secretary.
Announcing the appointments, Mr Clinton praised the role Mr Holbrooke played in bringing about the peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia in December 1995. Mr Holbrooke left the State Department for the private sector shortly after the peace accord was signed, but has since traveled as a US envoy to the Balkans and has acted as a US mediator in the dispute between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus.
Mr Holbrooke (57) is widely viewed as one of the ablest negotiators on the international scene. He is expected to lend new dynamism to the UN post. Although his thorny personality served him well in his talks with Balkan power brokers, it has not always endeared him to his colleagues.
His straightforward approach has at times caused problems in Mr Clinton's inner circle - including with the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright. He has been described as egotistical and arrogant, and even his closest friends acknowledge he is "cursed by the conviction that he is the smartest person in the room".