William J. Burns

11242013_burns8201.jpg

Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns used his clout to accelerate previous attempts to create an opening for negotiations with Iran. (Associated Press)

William J. Burns, left, deputy secretary of state, and Thomas R. Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, speak before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 on the Benghazi attack. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

BENGHAZI_7438_20121220

William J. Burns, left, deputy secretary of state, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 on the Benghazi attack. Burns reiterated that immediately following the attack Secretary of State Hillary Clinton labeled it an "act of terror." (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

BENGHAZI_7433_20121220

William J. Burns, left, deputy secretary of state, and Thomas R. Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, speak before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 on the Benghazi attack. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

BENGHAZI_7411_20121220

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing with Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides (right), who is in charge of management, and Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns (left), who is in charge of policy, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, after an independent review panel said this week that serious bureaucratic mismanagement was responsible for inadequate security at the mission in Benghazi, Libya, at which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed on Sept. 11. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)