Secretary Clinton entered 2012 with a series of bilaterals in D.C. in the early weeks of the month. She left for a whirlwind African tour mid-January. She visited Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, and Cape Verde in only two days! Liberia came first where she attended the second inauguration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Her next stop was the Ivory Coast, and then she visited Togo and Cape Verde - all in the same day before returning to D.C. and welcoming Kareem Abdul Jabbar to the diplomatic family. She welcomed King Abdullah of Jordan, presented the ACE awards, celebrated the Lunar New Year, met with additional counterparts in bilaterals, inaugurated the International Council on Women's Leadership, welcomed youth ambassadors from Brazil, attended the State of the Union address, did a QDDR Town Hall at the State Department, and ended the month in New York at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria with her UK and French counterparts.
