Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice, (born November 14 1954), is the second United States Secretary of State in the administration of President George W. Bush. She replaced Colin Powell on January 26, 2005 to become the first African American woman, second African American (after Powell), and second woman (after Madeleine Albright) to serve in that post.

Political career

Early phase

In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, Rice served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Related Topics:
1986 - Council on Foreign Relations - Joint Chiefs of Staff

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From 1989 through March 1991 (the period of the fall of Berlin Wall and the final days of the Soviet Union), she served in the George H. W. Bush Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In this position, Rice helped develop Bush's and Secretary of State James Baker's policies in favor of German reunification. She so impressed Bush that he introduced her to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as the one who "tells me everything I know about the Soviet Union."http://dir.salon.com/politics2000/feature/2000/03/20/rice/index.html

Related Topics:
1989 - 1991 - Berlin Wall - Soviet Union - George H. W. Bush - National Security Council - Secretary of State - James Baker - German reunification - Mikhail Gorbachev

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In 1989 she served as director for Soviet and East European Affairs at the National Security Council and reported directly to National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft. In 1990 she became George H. W. Bush's principal advisor on the Soviet Union. In 1997, she sat on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender-Integrated Training in the Military.

Related Topics:
1989 - Brent Scowcroft - 1990 - George H. W. Bush - 1997

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During George W. Bush's election campaign in 2000, Rice took a one-year leave of absence from Stanford University to help work as his foreign policy advisor.

Related Topics:
Election campaign - Stanford University

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National Security Advisor (2001 - 2005)

On December 17, 2000, Rice was picked to serve as National Security Advisor and stepped down from her position at Stanford. She was the first woman to occupy the post. In 2001, Rice was staff or board member of The Scowcroft Group according to a report entitled 2001 Morse Target.

Related Topics:
December 17 - 2000 - National Security Advisor - 2001 - The Scowcroft Group

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Rice became one of the most outspoken supporters of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After Iraq delivered its declaration of weapons of mass destruction to the United Nations on December 8, 2002, it was Rice who wrote an editorial for The New York Times entitled Why We Know Iraq Is Lying.

Related Topics:
2003 invasion of Iraq - Weapons of mass destruction - United Nations - 2002 - Editorial - The New York Times

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In March 2004, Rice initially refused to publicly testify under oath before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission). The White House claimed executive privilege under constitutional separation of powers and cited past tradition in refusing requests for her public testimony. Under pressure, Bush agreed to allow her to publicly testify so long as it did not create a precedent of Presidential staff being required to appear before United States Congress when so requested. In the end, her appearance before the commission on April 8, 2004, was deemed acceptable in part because she was not actually appearing before Congress. She thus became the first sitting National Security Advisor to testify on matters of policy.

Related Topics:
2004 - National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States - 9/11 Commission - White House - Executive privilege - Separation of powers - United States Congress - April 8

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Leading up to the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Rice became the first National Security Advisor to campaign for an incumbent president. She used this occasion to express her belief that Saddam's government in Iraq contributed to circumstances that produced terrorism like the 9/11 attacks on America. At a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania campaign rally she said: "While Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the actual attacks on America, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a part of the Middle East that was festering and unstable, was part of the circumstances that created the problem on September 11." http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/22/rice.speech.ap/

Related Topics:
2004 U.S. Presidential election - Saddam's government in Iraq contributed to circumstances that produced terrorism - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Middle East

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In 2003, Rice was also drawn into the debate over the affirmative action admissions policy at the University of Michigan. On January 18, 2003, the Washington Post reported that she was involved in crafting Bush's position against race-based preferences. On the same day, Rice released a statement that somewhat contradicted this, saying that she believes race "can be a factor" in university admissions policies http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/17/rice.action/index.html.

Related Topics:
2003 - Affirmative action - University of Michigan - January 18 - Washington Post

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Secretary of State

On November 16, 2004, Bush nominated Rice to be Secretary of State replacing Powell, whose resignation was made public the day before. Bush named Rice's deputy, Stephen Hadley, to replace her as National Security Advisor. On January 7, 2005, Bush nominated U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick to be Rice's deputy at the Department of State. On January 19, 2005, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted by 16-2 margin to approve the forwarding of Rice's nomination to the full Senate for approval, with Democrats John Kerry and Barbara Boxer voting against Rice. During her hearing, Ms. Boxer questioned Rice on issues about her personal life, which was deemed, by some, as irrelevent. On January 26, 2005, the Senate confirmed her nomination by a vote of 85-13. The negative votes, the most cast against any nomination for Secretary of State since 1825, came from Senators who, according to Boxer, wanted "to hold Dr. Rice and the Bush Administration accountable for their failures in Iraq and in the war on terrorism." All negative votes came from either Democratic or independent senators. Their reasoning was that Rice had acted irresponsibly in equating Hussein's regime with Islamist terrorism and some could not accept her previous record. However, Rice's charm and intellect outweighed these factors, resulting in her approval by Republicans and Democrats.

Related Topics:
Secretary of State - Stephen Hadley - January 7 - 2005 - U.S. Trade Representative - Robert B. Zoellick - U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations - John Kerry - Barbara Boxer - 1825 - Democratic - Islamist

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Rice has a very close relationship with President George Walker Bush. Many analysts argue that Rice's close relationship with Bush is the closest President/Secretary of State relationship since former President Richard Nixon and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the early 1970s. As Secretary of State, Rice is the highest any African-American woman has gotten in the presidential line of succession, she is fourth after the Vice President, Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

Related Topics:
George Walker Bush - Richard Nixon - Henry Kissinger - Vice President - Speaker of the House - President Pro Tempore of the Senate

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In January 2005, during Bush's second inaugural ceremonies, Rice first used the term "outposts of tyranny," referring to countries felt to threaten world peace and human rights. This term has been called a descendant of Bush's phrase "Axis of Evil" used to describe Iraq, Iran and North Korea. She identified six such "outposts" in which she said the United States has a duty to foster freedom: Cuba, Zimbabwe, Burma and Belarus, as well as Iran and North Korea.

Related Topics:
Second inaugural ceremonies - Outposts of tyranny - Axis of Evil - Iran - North Korea - Cuba - Zimbabwe - Burma - Belarus

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In February 2005, Rice began an extended tour of Europe and the Middle East for the first time in her official capacity of Secretary of State. She traveled to Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Italy, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Related Topics:
Europe - Middle East

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In April 2005, Rice went to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, visiting the country in which she specialized during her academic career and service with the National Security Council. On the plane trip over, she related comments critical of Putin to reporters. "Trends have not been positive on the democratic side", said Rice. "There have been some setbacks, but I do still think there is a considerable amount of individual freedom in Russia, which is important". http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15032888-38200,00.html

Related Topics:
Russia - Vladimir Putin

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In person she told Putin: "We see Russia as a partner in solving regional issues, like the Balkans or the Middle East".

Related Topics:
Putin - Balkans

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During an interview with Russian Echo Moscow Radio, her fluency in the Russian language was tested when she was asked about her intentions concerning running for President. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,154104,00.html When asked by a schoolgirl, "One day you will run for president?" she replied, "President, da, da," before she quickly answered with "nyet, nyet, nyet." When a Russian girl asked how she could become like her, she replied in English, "I don't want to talk about myself."

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She toured the damage from Hurricane Katrina in her home state of Alabama for several days in early September, 2005.

Related Topics:
Hurricane Katrina - Alabama

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On September 9, 2005, Rice declared the refusal of Iran to halt its nuclear program unacceptable and called on Russia, China and India to join in threatening United Nations sanctions as punishment.

Related Topics:
September 9 - 2005 - Iran - Russia - China - India - United Nations

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On September 30, 2005, as a keynote speaker at Princeton University's Celebration of the 75th Anniversary Of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Rice declared that the Iraq war is "set out to help the people of the Middle East transform their societies".

Related Topics:
September 30 - 2005 - Princeton University - Iraq war

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