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Kerry breaks record for miles traveled by secretary of state

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain William Roebuck, right, greets U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second right, as he arrives aboard his plane at Bahrain International Airport in Manama, Bahrain April 6, 2016. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain William Roebuck, right, greets U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second right, as he arrives aboard his plane at Bahrain International Airport in Manama, Bahrain April 6, 2016. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP) Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain William Roebuck, right, greets U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second right, as he arrives aboard his plane at Bahrain International Airport in Manama, Bahrain April 6, 2016. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)

By Associated Press 2 min read

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – John Kerry is now the most traveled secretary of state in U.S. history, breaking the record as he arrived in the Middle East kingdom of Bahrain on Wednesday.

The trip pushed Kerry past 1.06 million miles as America’s top diplomat, narrowly beating Condoleezza Rice by about 1,000 miles. Rice, who was secretary of state under President George W. Bush, held the previous mark with 1.059 million miles.

Kerry eclipsed Hillary Clinton’s mileage tally in December.

With 10 months left before a new president takes office, Kerry is showing no signs of tempering his hectic travel schedule. He flew to the Mideast on Tuesday from New York after attending an energy conference, stopping in Ireland to refuel. He plans to visit Japan later in the week.

With no immediate plans to leave the State Department, Kerry could easily pad his new record by hundreds of thousands of miles before departing government.