US ambassador hands symbolic e-reader to Bern museum
The United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Suzi LeVine, has given the e-reader device she was recently sworn in on to the Museum for Communication in Bern. Taking the oath of office on an electronic device was a first for a US diplomat.
LeVine (pictured above, left), who officially took up her post on June 2, said she chose to be sworn in on her Amazon Kindle e-reader partially “because it was what I had” and because she wanted to highlight certain American qualities.
“It symbolised, for me, the very best of my nation. Especially around innovation and entrepreneurship, and the voice each of us have in our democracy. And that the Swiss have in their democracy as well.”
At her swearing-in ceremony at the White House before US Vice President Joe Biden, LeVine opened her e-reader to the 19th Amendment of the US Constitution, which gave American women the right to vote in 1920.
During her career LeVine did an internship at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was an executive at Microsoft and Expedia before becoming a stay-at-home mother. She also co-founded the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington.
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