Presidential transition of Barack Obama he was sworn in as Vice President on January 20, 2009. Although he was sworn in for a seventh Senate term in early January 2009, he resigned from the seat on January 15, 2009, having served just over 36 years in the body. On November 24, 2008, Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner announced that Ted Kaufman would serve as Biden's appointed replacement. Kaufman was sworn in on January 16, 2009. A special election was held in November 2010, which elected Democratic candidate Chris Coons. During his abbreviated final term in the Senate, Biden went on a diplomatic fact-finding trip to
Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration appointed as the State Department's "first ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities" and was sworn in on September 15, 2009. She describes her responsibilities as including actively listening and responding to "the concerns of Muslims in Europe, Africa, and Asia." In 2012 Obama promised more flexibility on missile defense after his reelection, this flexibility was demonstrated the next year when Kerry offered to reduce American defenses against Chinese missiles. Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration The foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration was the foreign policy of the United States from 2009 to 2017 while Barack Obama was