survivor for the 2011 State of the Union Address. Salazar created new partnerships between the Department of the Interior and American mayors and governors to create and revitalize a new generation of urban parks in cities such as New York City, Denver, Chicago and St. Louis. As secretary, the department also created seven new national parks, including Pinnacles National Park in California, and 10 new national monuments. In May 2012, Salazar spoke at the commencement ceremony for the 2012 class at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. In November 2012, asked a question he did not like by a reporter for The Gazette regarding Salazar's association with hauler who shipped wild horses to slaughter plants, Salazar told the reporter, "If you do that to me again, I'll punch you out". Salazar later apologized. In January 2013 Salazar announced that he would be resigning as Secretary of the Interior. His replacement, Sally Jewell, was nominated on February 6, 2013, approved by the Senate on April 10, 2013, and sworn in on April 12, 2013. Clinton transition team On August 16, 2016, Hillary for America chairman John Podesta announced that Secretary Clinton had chosen Salazar to head her transition team in order to prepare for an orderly transition should she be elected as the 45th President of the United States. On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the election for President of the United States, and thus Ken Salazar was not granted the opportunity to head the White House transition team. Ambassador to Mexico On June 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Salazar to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings for his nomination on July 28, 2021. Salazar's nomination was then reported favorably by the committee on August 4, 2021. His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11, 2021 by voice vote. He was ceremoniously sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on September 2, 2021. On September 14, 2021, Salazar presented his credentials to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In July 2022, the New York Times published an article quoting "growing concern within the Biden administration that the ambassador may have actually compromised U.S. interests" and had become too close to sitting Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Electoral history See also Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States