The U.S. Senate confirmed Peter Self­ridge as President Obama’s chief of protocol, a job that carries that carries the rank of U.S. ambassador and assistant secretary of state.
Selfridge will serve as the link between the White House and foreign ambassador and visiting dignitaries.
Selfridge will also manage Blair House, the official guesthouse of the President.
While on paper the job is part of the State Department, its primary focus is White House diplomacy.
Raised in Minnesota, the 1989 Minnetonka High grad landed his first job in the White House in 1995, sorting invitations in President Bill Clinton’s scheduling office.
With supports from Democratic U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, the Senate confirmed Selfridge’s nomination by voice vote Monday. He succeeds Capricia Marshall, who held the job from 2009 until her departure last summer.