<P> President - elect Obama nominated former rival, Senator Hillary Clinton to serve as his Secretary of State on December 1, 2008, and chose to keep Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as his Secretary of Defense . He appointed General James L. Jones to serve as his National Security Advisor and nominated Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security . </P> <P> Clinton stated during her confirmation hearings that she believed that "the best way to advance America's interests in reducing global threats and seizing global opportunities is to design and implement global solutions ." She stated, "We must use what has been called "smart power", the full range of tools at our disposal--diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural--picking the right tool or combination of tools for each situation . With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy ." </P> <P> During the last weeks before his inauguration, in addition to the several major conflicts in the world, fighting related to the Israeli--Palestinian conflict erupted anew, specifically in Gaza, between Israel and the Hamas - led government . The 2008--2009 Israel--Gaza conflict ended in an uneasy cease - fire on January 18, 2009, two days prior to Obama's inauguration . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Wikisource has original text related to this article: Barack Obama's Inaugural Address </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who initiated the use of executive agreements in foreign policy matters