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Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tBiden: Here\u2019s why I chose Lloyd Austin for defense secretary<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The president-elect says Austin has the experience and character needed to lead the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n
The bulk of the other Biden picks for top administration and Cabinet posts have longstanding Twitter accounts. Many have used their accounts, as well as the transition team\u2019s account, to introduce themselves to a broader American audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin is known for avoiding public remarks, even though he held a number of high-profile, critical military jobs. He was commander in Baghdad of the Multinational Corps-Iraq in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president, and he returned to lead U.S. troops there from 2010 through 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He then served as the first Black vice chief of staff of the Army, the service\u2019s No. 2 position. And a year later he took command of U.S. Central Command, as the top American commander for the Middle East. There, he developed and began implementing a U.S. military strategy to roll back the Islamic State group, which was capturing territory across Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin\u2019s Twitter video treads a careful line between touting his military career and emphasizing his current status as a civilian. For much of it he\u2019s seated next to an American flag, dressed in a suit and tie. But the first scene is a photo of him, in combat uniform as a three-star general, with his wife, and other pictures show him in military dress during his career, meeting with troops and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The message is a safe, personal one that resonates with families. He talks about service members who leave home to fight for their country, missing birthdays and other events, while worried spouses wait at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those families, he said, \u201care absolutely afraid to answer the phone if it ever rings late at night. You\u2019re afraid to answer the door unless you can see who\u2019s at the door. If you can imagine going through that day in, day out over multiple deployments, you can begin to think how much our spouses and our families sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By early afternoon, Austin had more than 7,000 followers, and the number was rapidly growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n