NPR

Mike Pompeo: A Soldier, Spy Chief And Tea Party Republican Becomes A Diplomat

He's been a tank commander, a successful businessman, a congressman and head of the CIA. He's cultivated a tough-guy persona with hawkish views on foreign policy. Now he's the country's top diplomat.

Mike Pompeo, who President Trump tapped Tuesday to replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, has an extraordinary resume. He graduated at the top of his class at West Point. He served as a tank officer in Europe. He went to Harvard Law School.

He was a corporate lawyer who launched a successful aerospace business. He got elected to Congress as a Tea Party Republican from Kansas in 2010. For more than a year, he's run the CIA.

However, he's never been a diplomat, either by profession or

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