WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry, President Barack Obama’s pick for secretary of state, is a familiar face to the world leaders vital to American interests.

The son of a diplomat and Obama’s unofficial envoy, Kerry spent hours walking around the palace in Kabul persuading Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to agree to a runoff election in fall 2009. The relationship will be crucial in the coming months as the administration draws down U.S. forces after more than a decade of war.