WASHINGTON -- With only three “no” votes, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed veteran lawmaker and former presidential candidate John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as the secretary of state for the Obama administration’s second term.

The Massachusetts Democrat, 69, glided through his confirmation process, with supporters noting his quarter-century in the Senate, across-the-aisle friendships with Republicans, nearly 100 overseas trips, family ties to the Foreign Service, and status as a Vietnam veteran. Although no time for a swearing-in has been announced, Kerry was expected to deliver a speech on Wednesday; Clinton’s last day as secretary will be Friday, her office announced.

Not a single objection to Kerry’s candidacy was raised in either last week’s hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Kerry had led before recusing himself, or in the two-hour debate period before the full Senate vote Tuesday. Even so, there were “no” votes from three Republicans: John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas, and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. Ninety-four senators voted in favor of Kerry’s candidacy; one voted present – and that was Kerry.

The overwhelming bipartisan support for Kerry “sends a very clear message to the world that this is America’s representative, this is our secretary of state, and I believe he’s earned the vote,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who succeeded Kerry as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

The confirmation might’ve been the easy part. Now, Kerry is poised to inherit a long list of worsening conflicts and humanitarian crises in which U.S. policy has waffled or remained opaque and heavily criticized. In just the Middle East and North Africa, there’re the civil war in Syria, the French-led fight to dislodge extremists from northern Mali, and fresh violence in U.S. partners Egypt, Libya and Iraq.

Kerry also will have delicate internal affairs to manage as Republicans pledge to continue their sharp questioning of the State Department’s conduct and security posture at the time of the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. posts in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. The debacle cost President Barack Obama his first choice for Clinton’s replacement, United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.

Rice withdrew her name from consideration once it became apparent she’d face a firestorm of opposition from Republicans, largely over her statements in the aftermath of the Benghazi assault. In foreign policy circles, Rice also is considered an Obama loyalist, and analysts said that a Kerry-led State Department might show more independence.

Moments after the Senate vote, Rice sent out a message on her official Twitter account congratulating Kerry and saying that she’s “looking forward to working closely with him on the national security team.”

Critics accused Rice of deliberately misleading the public during TV appearances in which she painted the Benghazi attacks as part of a spontaneous protest rather than what others in the administration already had deemed a pre-planned militant attack. Rice has said she was only parroting talking points provided by intelligence authorities.

Republicans have complained that there’s still too little information on what some tabloids have called “Benghazigate,” and claim that administration officials had tried to cover up the security lapses and intelligence failures in the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. They’ve pledged to keep the Benghazi investigation a priority, even after Kerry is in office.