When Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States, history was etched on American soil and his triumph and trajectory to the White House had made true that the country can be lead and govern by the people of color and it gave undying hope to them amid facing incessant racial discrimination and disparities and such suppression and violence against the black people strong prevailed when Obama's successor Donald Trump was serving in the White House. 

Trump's administration had largely dimmed the light on the black people and Trump had steered his presidency with multiple allegations of discriminating the people of color though he displayed himself before the cameras and he is the least racist person. But people who were close to Trump --from his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to former White House official Omarosa Manigault Newman had called Trump a racist, bigot, and a con man. Cohen had directly accused Trump of routinely disparaging people of color, including former President Obama. 

It's undoubted that Trump's divisive policies and rhetoric had driven a sea of black voters to reach the shore of Joe Biden, who has now succeeded him. Trump's defeat was made possible by his worst precedents and the largest voter turnout of Black people had gone to Biden and after winning the presidency, Biden began building his administration with diversity and pluralism, thanks to his voters. He had picked people of color, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans to the key posts in his administration. 

One of the significant picks of Biden is nominating retired Army General Lloyd Austin to lead the world's largest and powerful defense mechanism - The Pentagon. The nomination of Austin to lead the Department of Defense had renewed the path and hope of the people of color and when Biden assumed the office as the 46th President of the United States, America prepared for a fresh start with many firsts in the administration. Biden steadfastly began to undo the divisive policies of Trump and to overhaul the country's track for the next four years. 

Making history, the US Senate has on Friday voted and confirmed General Lloyd Austin as the US Secretary of Defense, making him the first Black American to serve the highest role in the world's largest and powerful defense department. Austin will now be leading the department under Biden's administration in addressing and countering the adversaries for the United States from abroad. 

According to Reuters, Senate lawmakers from both parties said they were pleased that Austin would be installed to lead the Pentagon, just two days after Biden was sworn in as President. In unprecedented turnouts, the majority of Republicans had also voted in favor of confirming Austin's nomination to lead the Pentagon. The vote was 93-2 in the 100-member chamber, far more than the simple majority needed. Senator Jack Reed said before the vote, "General Austin is an exceptionally qualified leader with a long and distinguished career in the US Military".

Reed, who is the incoming Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, noted the wide range of challenges facing the country- including the COVID-19 pandemic and competition with China and Russia. Being a potential pick, members of Congress had also approved a waiver allowing Austin to lead the Pentagon even though he had not cleared the required seven-year waiting period since leaving the uniformed services - a law that guarantees civilian control of the military. 

Lloyd Austin takes the role as the Defense Secretary with a career in defense spanning four decades. During his career in the uniformed services, he was away from the spotlight and has built a reputation for delivering his service with sound knowledge and great dignity. When Barack Obama was the President, Austin served as the Commander for the Central Command, which oversees US troops across the Middle East. 

67-year-old Austin joined the uniformed services in 1975 and got retired in 2016 with the rank of General. He also had served as the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army and took part in the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Four years after retiring from the uniformed services, Lloyd Austin has now become the first African American to lead the Defense Department, in a way of former President Barack Obama. Austin had assumed office on January 22, 2021. Biden has chosen Austin to lead the Pentagon as the former knew well the latter when he was the vice president in the Obama administration. 

After the confirmation, Austin took to Twitter and said, "It’s an honor and a privilege to serve as our country’s 28th Secretary of Defense, and I’m especially proud to be the first African American to hold the position. Let’s get to work." In Obama's way, Austin becomes another feather in the cap of fulfilling Martin Luther King's dream. 

It’s an honor and a privilege to serve as our country’s 28th Secretary of Defense, and I’m especially proud to be the first African American to hold the position. Let’s get to work. pic.twitter.com/qPAzVRxz9L

— Lloyd Austin (@LloydAustin) January 22, 2021