Boston has a lot to be proud of, and not excluded from that list is Beacon Hill’s own John Kerry. The former U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and current Secretary of State is held in high regard, according to a new poll, up 9 percent in favorability from April 2013.

Gallup’s latest survey was conducted between February 6 and 9 with a random sample of 1,023 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C. According to Gallup’s data, 55 percent of the 1,023 sample size have a favorable view of Secretary Kerry.

He does, however, have some naysayers, as well. A solid 34 percent of those surveyed hold an unfavorable view of Kerry, but it’s down from 35 percent a year ago, a sure trend the secretary surely hopes will continue downward.

It’s important to note that the poll was conducted prior to the political turmoil in Ukraine, where Kerry currently is traveling in hopes of quelling the bloodshed. According to the New York Times, Kerry put “$1 billion in an American loan guarantee and pledges of technical assistance” offer on the table as a show of support. But it could also be construed as a warning shot across the bow of Russia and its intervening in Crimea.

In late September 2013, Gallup asked for public opinion on Kerry, who was then enthralled in the Syrian chemical weapons debacle; he held a 48 percent favorability rating then. Prior to that, though, his favorability hovered around 44 percent so perhaps the American public is growing fond of Secretary Kerry’s foreign relations chops.

Interestingly, Gallup also included the favorability of Secretaries of State of yore after their respective first year in the cabinet. Kerry’s rating pales in comparison to the likes of Hillary Clinton, 61 percent favorable; Condoleeza Rice, 61 percent favorable; and Colin Powell, 85 percent favorable.

Powell’s numbers may be somewhat skewed, though. Gallup reminds us that his favorability “at least partly reflected Americans’ rallying for the government after 9/11.”

Kerry’s tenure in office thus far has been chock full of international crisis issues of the human rights variety. From Syria to Ukraine he’s endeavored to uphold American standards on the international stage to the utmost, perhaps more so than any of his predecessors in their inaugural term.

Keep up the hard work, John. Boston is behind you.