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Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
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Condoleezza "Condi" Rice (/ˌkɒndəˈlzə/ KON-də-LEE-zə; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 66th United States secretary of state from 2005 to 2009 and as the 19th U.S. national security advisor from 2001 to 2005. Since 2020, she has served as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, Rice was the first female African-American secretary of state and the first woman to serve as national security advisor. Until the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008, Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, were the highest-ranking African Americans in the history of the federal executive branch (by virtue of the secretary of state standing fourth in the presidential line of succession). At the time of her appointment as Secretary of State, Rice was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States to be in the presidential line of succession.

Key Information

Rice was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up while the South was racially segregated. She obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of Denver and her master's degree from the University of Notre Dame, both in political science. In 1981, she received a PhD from the School of International Studies at the University of Denver.[1][2] She worked at the State Department under the Carter administration and served on the National Security Council as the Soviet and Eastern Europe affairs advisor to President George H. W. Bush during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification from 1989 to 1991. Rice later pursued an academic fellowship at Stanford University, where she later served as provost from 1993 to 1999. On December 17, 2000, she joined the George W. Bush administration as national security advisor. In Bush's second term, she succeeded Colin Powell as Secretary of State, thereby becoming the first African-American woman, second African-American after Powell, and second woman after Madeleine Albright to hold this office.

Following her confirmation as secretary of state, Rice pioneered the policy of Transformational Diplomacy directed toward expanding the number of responsible democratic governments in the world and especially in the Greater Middle East. That policy faced challenges as Hamas captured a popular majority in Palestinian elections, and influential countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt maintained authoritarian systems (with U.S. backing).[citation needed] While in the position, she chaired the Millennium Challenge Corporation's board of directors.[3] In March 2009, Rice returned to Stanford University as a political science professor and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution.[4][5] In September 2010, she became a faculty member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a director of its Global Center for Business and the Economy.[6] In January 2020, it was announced that Rice would succeed Thomas W. Gilligan as the next director of the Hoover Institution on September 1, 2020.[7] She is on the Board of Directors of Dropbox and Makena Capital Management, LLC.[8][9][10]

Early life

[edit]

Rice was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the only child of Angelena (née Ray) Rice, a high school science, music, and oratory teacher, and John Wesley Rice Jr., a high school guidance counselor, Presbyterian minister,[11] and dean of students at Stillman College, a historically black college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[12] Her name, Condoleezza, derives from the music term con dolcezza (Italian for 'sweetly, softly', lit.'with sweetness'). Rice has roots in the American South going back to the pre–Civil War era, and some of her ancestors worked as sharecroppers for a time after emancipation. Rice discovered on the PBS series Finding Your Roots[13] that she is of 51% African, 40% European, and 9% Asian or Native American genetic descent, while her mtDNA is traced back to the Tikar people of Cameroon.[14][15]

In her 2017 book, Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, she writes, "My great-great-grandmother Zina on my mother's side bore five children by different slave owners" and "My great-grandmother on my father's side, Julia Head, carried the name of the slave owner and was so favored by him that he taught her to read."[16] Rice grew up in the Titusville[17] neighborhood of Birmingham, and then Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at a time when the South was racially segregated. The Rices lived on the campus of Stillman College.[12]

Rice began to learn French, music, figure skating and ballet at the age of three.[18] At the age of fifteen, she began piano classes with the goal of becoming a concert pianist.[19]

Education

[edit]

In 1967, the family moved to Denver, Colorado. She attended St. Mary's Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, and graduated at age 16 in 1971.[20] Rice enrolled at the University of Denver, where her father worked at the time.[21][22]

Rice initially majored in music, and after her sophomore year, she went to the Aspen Music Festival and School. There, she later said, she met students of greater talent than herself, and she doubted her career prospects as a pianist. She began to consider an alternative major.[19][23] She attended an International Politics course taught by Josef Korbel, which sparked her interest in the Soviet Union and international relations. Rice later described Korbel (who is the father of Madeleine Albright, then a future U.S. secretary of state), as a central figure in her life.[24]

In 1974, at age 19, Rice was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa society, and was awarded a B.A. degree cum laude in political science by the University of Denver. While at the University of Denver she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Delta chapter.[25] She obtained an M.A. degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 1975. She first worked in the State Department in 1977, during the Carter administration, as an intern in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She also studied Russian at Moscow State University in the summer of 1979, and interned with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California.[26] In 1981, at age 26, she received her Ph.D. in political science from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Her dissertation centered on military policy and politics in what was then the communist state of Czechoslovakia.[27]

From 1980 to 1981, she was a fellow at Stanford University's Arms Control and Disarmament Program, having won a Ford Foundation Dual Expertise Fellowship in Soviet Studies and International Security.[26] Rice was one of only four women – along with Janne E. Nolan, Cindy Roberts, and Gloria Duffy – studying international security at Stanford on fellowships at the time.[28][29] Her fellowship at Stanford began her academic affiliation with the university and time in Northern California.

Early political views

[edit]

Rice was a Democrat until 1982, when she changed her political affiliation to Republican, in part because she disagreed with the foreign policy of Democratic President Jimmy Carter,[30][31] and because of the influence of her father, who was Republican. As she told the 2000 Republican National Convention, "My father joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did."[32]

Academic career

[edit]
Condoleezza Rice during a 2005 interview on ITV in London

Rice was hired by Stanford University as an assistant professor of political science (1981–1987). She was promoted to associate professor in 1987, a post she held until 1993. She was a specialist on the Soviet Union and gave lectures on the subject for the Berkeley-Stanford joint program led by UC Berkeley professor George W. Breslauer in the mid-1980s.

At a 1985 meeting of arms control experts at Stanford, Rice's performance drew the attention of Brent Scowcroft, who had served as National Security Advisor under Gerald Ford.[33] With the election of George H. W. Bush, Scowcroft returned to the White House as National Security Adviser in 1989, and he asked Rice to become his Soviet expert on the United States National Security Council. According to R. Nicholas Burns, President Bush was "captivated" by Rice, and relied heavily on her advice in his dealings with Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.[33]

Because she would have been ineligible for tenure at Stanford if she had been absent for more than two years, she returned there in 1991. She was taken under the wing of George Shultz (Ronald Reagan's secretary of state from 1982 to 1989), who was a fellow at the Hoover Institution. Shultz included Rice in a "luncheon club" of intellectuals who met every few weeks to discuss foreign affairs.[33] In 1992, Shultz, who was a board member of Chevron Corporation, recommended Rice for a spot on the Chevron board. Chevron was pursuing a $10 billion development project in Kazakhstan and, as a Soviet specialist, Rice knew the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. She traveled to Kazakhstan on Chevron's behalf and, in honor of her work, in 1993, Chevron named a 129,000-ton supertanker SS Condoleezza Rice.[33] During this period, Rice was also appointed to the boards of Transamerica Corporation (1991) and Hewlett-Packard (1992).

Provost promotion

[edit]

At Stanford, in 1992, Rice volunteered to serve on the search committee to replace outgoing president Donald Kennedy. The committee ultimately recommended Gerhard Casper, the provost of the University of Chicago. Casper met Rice during this search, and was so impressed that in 1993, he appointed her as Stanford's provost, the chief budget and academic officer of the university in 1993[33] and she also was granted tenure and became full professor.[34] Rice was the first female, first African-American, and youngest provost in Stanford's history.[35][36][37] She was also named a senior fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and a senior fellow (by courtesy) of the Hoover Institution.

Former Stanford president Gerhard Casper said the university was "most fortunate in persuading someone of Professor Rice's exceptional talents and proven ability in critical situations to take on this task. Everything she has done, she has done well; I have every confidence that she will continue that record as provost."[38] Acknowledging Rice's unique character, Casper told The New Yorker in 2002 that it "would be disingenuous for me to say that the fact that she was a woman, the fact that she was black and the fact that she was young weren't in my mind."[39][40]

As Stanford's provost, Rice was responsible for managing the university's multibillion-dollar budget. The school at that time was running a deficit of $20 million. When Rice took office, she promised that the budget would be balanced within "two years." Coit Blacker, Stanford's deputy director of the Institute for International Studies, said there "was a sort of conventional wisdom that said it couldn't be done ... that [the deficit] was structural, that we just had to live with it." Two years later, Rice announced that the deficit had been eliminated and the university was holding a record surplus of over $14.5 million.[41]

Rice drew protests when, as the provost, she departed from the practice of applying affirmative action to tenure decisions and unsuccessfully sought to consolidate the university's ethnic community centers.[40]

Return to Stanford

[edit]

During a farewell interview in early December 2008, Rice indicated she would return to Stanford and the Hoover Institution, "back west of the Mississippi where I belong," but beyond writing and teaching did not specify what her role would be.[42] Rice's plans for a return to campus were elaborated in an interview with the Stanford Report in January 2009.[43] She returned to Stanford as a political science professor and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution on March 1, 2009.[44] Condoleezza Rice is currently the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution; and a professor of political science at Stanford University.[1]

Role in nuclear strategy

[edit]

In 1986, Rice was appointed special assistant to the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to work on nuclear strategic planning as part of a Council on Foreign Relations fellowship. In 2005, Rice assumed office as Secretary of State. Rice played an important role in trying to stop the nuclear threat from North Korea and Iran.[45]

North Korea

[edit]

North Korea signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1985, but in 2002, it was revealed that they were operating a secret nuclear weapons program that violated the 1994 agreement. The 1994 agreement between the United States and North Korea included North Korea agreeing to freeze and eventually dismantle its graphite moderated nuclear reactors, in exchange for international aid which would help them to build two new light-water nuclear reactors. In 2003, North Korea officially withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Rice played a key role in the idea of "six-party talks" that brought China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea into discussion with North Korea and the United States.[46]

During these discussions, Rice gave strong talks to urge North Korea to dismantle their nuclear power program. In 2005, North Korea agreed to give up its entire nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and economic benefits to ensure its survival.[45] Despite the agreement in 2005, in 2006, North Korea test fired long range missiles. The UN Security Council demanded North Korea suspend the program. In 2007, Rice was involved in another nuclear agreement with North Korea (Pyongyang). Rice, other negotiators for the United States and four other nations (six-party talks) reached a deal with North Korea. In this deal North Korea agreed to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for $400 million in fuel and aid.[45]

India

[edit]

In 2006, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh announced the Agreement for Cooperation between the United States and India involving peaceful uses of nuclear energy. As Secretary of State, Rice was involved in the negotiation of this agreement and declared "India's society is open and free, transparent and stable. Its multiethnic and multi-religious democracy is characterized by individual freedom and the rule of law. We share common values...India is a rising global power that can be a pillar of stability in a rapidly changing Asia. India is, in short, a natural partner for the United States."[45][47]

Private sector

[edit]

Rice headed Chevron's committee on public policy until she resigned on January 15, 2001, to become National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush. Chevron honored Rice by naming an oil tanker Condoleezza Rice after her, but controversy led to its being renamed Altair Voyager.[48][49]

Rice has served as an instructor at MIT Seminar XXI.[50] She also served on the board of directors for the Carnegie Corporation, Charles Schwab Corporation, Chevron Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Rand Corporation, Transamerica Corporation, and other organizations.

In 1992, Rice founded the Center for New Generation, an after-school program created to raise the high school graduation numbers of East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park, California.[51] After her tenure as secretary of state, Rice was approached in February 2009 to fill an open position as a Pac-10 Commissioner,[52] but chose instead to return to Stanford University as a political science professor and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution.

In 2014, Rice joined the Ban Bossy campaign as a spokesperson advocating leadership roles for girls.[53][54]

On July 11, 2022, the Denver Broncos announced that Rice had joined the Walton-Penner ownership group (consisting of S. Robson Walton, Greg Penner, Carrie Walton Penner, Mellody Hobson, and Sir Lewis Hamilton), which recently agreed to buy the NFL team for $4.65 billion.[55] On August 9, 2022, the NFL owners approved the purchase of the Denver Broncos by the Walton-Penner group.[56]

Early political career

[edit]

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.

From 1989 through March 1991 (the period of the fall of Berlin Wall and the final days of the Soviet Union), she served in President George H. W. Bush's 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 wrote what would become known as the "Chicken Kiev speech" in which Bush advised the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, against independence. She also helped develop Bush's and Secretary of State James Baker's policies in favor of German reunification. She impressed Bush, who later introduced her to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, as the one who "tells me everything I know about the Soviet Union."[57]

In 1991, Rice returned to her teaching position at Stanford, although she continued to serve as a consultant on the former Soviet Bloc for numerous clients in both the public and private sectors. Late that year, California governor Pete Wilson appointed her to a bipartisan committee that had been formed to draw new state legislative and congressional districts in the state.

In 1997, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender–Integrated Training in the Military.[58]

During George W. Bush's 2000 presidential election campaign, Rice took a one-year leave of absence from Stanford University to serve as his foreign policy advisor. The group of advisors she led called itself the Vulcans in honor of the monumental Vulcan statue, which sits on a hill overlooking her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Rice would later go on to give a noteworthy speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention. The speech asserted that "...  America's armed forces are not a global police force. They are not the world's 911."[32][59][60]

National Security Advisor (2001–2005)

[edit]
Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld listen to President George W. Bush speak about the Middle East on June 24, 2002

On December 16, 2000, Rice was named as National Security Advisor,[61] upon which she stepped down from her position at Stanford.[62] She was the first woman to occupy the post. Rice earned the nickname of "Warrior Princess", reflecting strong nerve and delicate manners.[63]

On January 18, 2003, The Washington Post reported that Rice was involved in crafting Bush's position on race-based preferences. Rice has stated that "while race-neutral means are preferable", race can be taken into account as "one factor among others" in university admissions policies.[64]

Terrorism

[edit]

During the summer of 2001, Rice met with CIA director George Tenet to discuss the possibilities and prevention of terrorist attacks on American targets. On July 10, 2001, Rice met with Tenet in what he referred to as an "emergency meeting"[65] held at the White House at Tenet's request to brief Rice and the NSC staff about the potential threat of an impending al Qaeda attack. Rice responded by asking Tenet to give a presentation on the matter to Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft.[66]

Rice characterized the August 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US as historical information. Rice indicated "It was information based on old reporting."[67] Sean Wilentz of Salon magazine suggested that the PDB contained current information based on continuing investigations, including that Bin Laden wanted to "bring the fighting to America."[68] On September 11, 2001, Rice was scheduled to outline a new national security policy that included missile defense as a cornerstone and played down the threat of stateless terrorism.[69]

President Bush addresses the media at the Pentagon on September 17, 2001

When asked in 2006 about the July 2001 meeting, Rice asserted she did not recall the specific meeting, commenting that she had met repeatedly with Tenet that summer about terrorist threats. Moreover, she stated that it was "incomprehensible" to her that she had ignored terrorist threats two months before the September 11 attacks.[65]

In 2003, Rice received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.[70]

In August 2010, Rice received the U.S. Air Force Academy's 2009 Thomas D. White National Defense Award for contributions to the defense and security of the United States.[71]

Subpoenas

[edit]

In March 2004, Rice declined to testify 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. Under pressure, Bush agreed to allow her to testify so long as it did not create a precedent of presidential staff being required to appear before Congress when so requested.[72] In April 2007, Rice rejected, on grounds of executive privilege, a House subpoena regarding the prewar claim that Iraq sought yellowcake uranium from Niger.[73]

Iraq

[edit]
Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld participate in a video conference with President Bush and Iraqi PM Maliki in 2006

Rice was a proponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After Iraq delivered its declaration of weapons of mass destruction to the United Nations on December 8, 2002, Rice wrote an editorial for The New York Times entitled "Why We Know Iraq Is Lying".[74] In a January 10, 2003, interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Rice made headlines by stating regarding Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's nuclear capabilities: "The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."[75]

In October 2003, Rice was named to run the Iraq Stabilization Group, to "quell violence in Iraq and Afghanistan and to speed the reconstruction of both countries."[76] By May 2004, The Washington Post reported that the council had become virtually nonexistent.[77]

Leading up to the 2004 presidential election, Rice became the first National Security Advisor to campaign for an incumbent president. She stated that 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, [and] was part of the circumstances that created the problem on September 11."[78]

After the invasion, when it became clear that Iraq did not have nuclear WMD capability, critics called Rice's claims a "hoax", "deception" and "demagogic scare tactic".[79] Dana Milbank and Mike Allen wrote in The Washington Post: "Either she missed or overlooked numerous warnings from intelligence agencies seeking to put caveats on claims about Iraq's nuclear weapons program, or she made public claims that she knew to be false".[80]

Role in authorizing use of torture

[edit]

A Senate Intelligence Committee reported that on July 17, 2002, Rice met with CIA director George Tenet to personally convey the Bush administration's approval of the proposed waterboarding of alleged Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah. "Days after Dr Rice gave Mr Tenet her approval, the Justice Department approved the use of waterboarding in a top secret August 1 memo."[81] Waterboarding is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts,[82][83][84][85] war veterans,[86][87] intelligence officials,[88] military judges,[89] human rights organizations,[90] former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder,[91] and many senior politicians, including former U.S. president Barack Obama.[92]

In 2003 Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General John Ashcroft met with the CIA again and were briefed on the use of waterboarding and other methods including week-long sleep deprivation, forced nudity and the use of stress positions. The Senate report says that the Bush administration officials "reaffirmed that the CIA program was lawful and reflected administration policy".[81]

The Senate report also "suggests Miss Rice played a more significant role than she acknowledged in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee submitted in the autumn."[81] At that time, she had acknowledged attending meetings to discuss the CIA's use of torture, but she claimed that she could not recall the details, and she "omitted her direct role in approving the program in her written statement to the committee."[93]

In a conversation with a student at Stanford University in April 2009, Rice stated that she did not authorize the CIA to use the torture. Rice said, "I didn't authorize anything. I conveyed the authorization of the administration to the agency that they had policy authorization, subject to the Justice Department's clearance. That's what I did."[94] She added, "We were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the Convention Against Torture. And so, by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Conventions Against Torture."[94]

In 2015, citing her role in authorizing the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques", Human Rights Watch called for the investigation of Rice "for conspiracy to torture as well as other crimes."[95]

Secretary of State (2005–2009)

[edit]
Rice signs official papers after receiving the oath of office during her ceremonial swearing in at the Department of State. Watching are, from left, Laura Bush, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President George W. Bush.
Condoleezza Rice visits Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean in Ottawa, Ontario.

On November 16, 2004, Bush nominated Rice to be Secretary of State. On January 26, 2005, the Senate confirmed her nomination by a vote of 85–13.[96] The negative votes, the most cast against any nomination for Secretary of State since 1825,[96] came from Senators who, according to Senator Barbara Boxer, wanted "to hold Dr. Rice and the Bush administration accountable for their failures in Iraq and in the war on terrorism."[97] Their reasoning was that Rice had acted irresponsibly in equating Saddam's regime with Islamist terrorism and some could not accept her previous record. Senator Robert Byrd, a prominent Senate institutionalist[98] who was concerned with executive over-reach, voted against Rice's appointment, indicating that she "has asserted that the President holds far more of the war power than the Constitution grants him."[99]

As Secretary of State, Rice championed the expansion of democratic governments and other American values: "American values are universal."[100] "An international order that reflects our values is the best guarantee of our enduring national interest ..."[101] Rice stated that the September 11 attacks in 2001 were rooted in "oppression and despair" and so, the U.S. must advance democratic reform and support basic rights throughout the greater Middle East.[102]

Rice also reformed and restructured the department, as well as U.S. diplomacy as a whole. "Transformational Diplomacy" is the goal that Rice describes as "work[ing] with our many partners around the world ... [and] build[ing] and sustain[ing] democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system."[103]

Rice with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal in 2006

As Secretary of State, Rice traveled heavily and initiated many diplomatic efforts on behalf of the Bush administration;[104] she holds the record for most miles logged in the position.[105] Her diplomacy relied on strong presidential support and is considered to be the continuation of style defined by former Republican secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and James Baker.[104]

Condoleezza Rice speaks with Vladimir Putin during her April 2005 trip to Russia.

Post-Bush administration

[edit]

After the end of the Bush Administration, Rice returned to academia and joined the Council on Foreign Relations.[106]

Public appearances and commentary

[edit]

In October 2010, Rice met with President Obama for a discussion on national security issues.[107][108] In November, Rice participated in the groundbreaking of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.[109][110] Two years later, Rice introduced world leaders such as Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar at the center's dedication ceremony.[111]

In May 2011, after the killing of Osama bin Laden, Rice told Zain Verjee that bin Laden's death was "gratifying because for our country this brings an important chapter to a close and it shows that the United States can, with patience and persistence, do something like this." She argued against removing troops from Afghanistan until the US finished helping the country "get more decent governance".[112] That year, she appeared as herself on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock in the fifth-season episode "Everything Sunny All the Time Always", in which she engages in a classical-music duel with Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). Within the world of the show, Donaghy had had a relationship with Rice during the show's first season.[113][114]

In May 2012, Rice served as the keynote speaker at the Southern Methodist University commencement ceremony.[115] Rice delivered a speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention.[116][117] Daniel W. Drezner of Foreign Affairs praised Rice's address as the best speech of the convention.[118]

In 2013, Rice charged Iran with having "done everything to make certain that you can't trust them", citing Iran's decades-long hiding of its nuclear program and giving the International Atomic Energy Agency "the runaround."[119] In 2015, Rice initially declined taking a public position on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action "because I know how hard it is to be in there as opposed to out here", but added, "This particular deal I think has some good elements but the price that was paid was pretty high. It's entirely possible that they are already at threshold status and we will never know it."[120] As the Trump administration weighed pulling out of the agreement, Rice said she would have "stayed in for alliance management reasons more than anything else" and charged the verification methods of the deal as not being "very strong."[121][122]

In August 2015, High Point University announced that Rice would speak at the 2016 commencement ceremony.[123] Her commencement address was highlighted by The Huffington Post,[124] Fortune,[125] Business Insider,[126] NBC News, Time, and USA Today.[127]

Rice with President Donald Trump, March 31, 2017

On January 26, 2017, Rice participated in a talk with the University of San Francisco, where she opined that the United States had entered "uncharted territory" with President Donald Trump due to his lack of government experience and that the new president should be given time to realize the limitations of his powers.[128] On March 31, Rice met with Vice President Mike Pence and President Trump at the White House.[129][130] In May, Rice said that alleged Russian hacking of DNC emails should "absolutely not" delegitimize Trump's presidency.[131]

Rice supported the Trump administration "painting a very bleak picture for the Chinese", opining that the cabinet saw the region as the only country with leverage over North Korea.[132] In 2018, Rice called decisions by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to make overtures to the South Koreans "clever" and expressed that he was more isolated and reckless than his father.[133] Ahead of the Singapore Summit, Rice stated her support for negotiations with North Korea, but warned the US should "go step by step, make sure there's good verification of everything the North Koreans are doing, and keep your eye on the prize of denuclearization. Because what we want to do is stop them short of threatening the American homeland."[134]

By September 2019, Rice had publicly stated her dislike for Trump's rhetoric, especially on immigration, and warned that Trump needed "to be a lot more careful in the way that he speaks about these things because race is a very delicate and raw nerve in America."[135] In November, as House Democrats moved forward with their impeachment inquiry into President Trump for his correspondence with Ukraine, Rice commented that she did not "like for the President of the United States to mention an American citizen for investigation to a foreign leader" and that she was troubled by "a state of conflict between the foreign policy professionals and someone in Rudy Giuliani who says he was acting on behalf of the President."[136]

In August 2021, Rice wrote an op-ed arguing that the United States withdrew from Afghanistan too quickly and called claims that Afghans were to blame for the Taliban takeover a "corrosive and deeply unfair narrative".[137] In October, Rice appeared as a guest cohost on The View, where she asserted that Americans were more interested in household issues than continuing to investigate the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[138][139][140] In December, Rice joined Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey in Birmingham to announce the recommendations of the Alabama Innovation Commission, which had worked with the Hoover Institution, on means of advancing statewide technology and entrepreneurship.[141][142]

In April 2022, Rice attended Madeleine Albright's funeral, where she delivered a reading from the Bible.[143] In July, Rice participated in an Aspen Security Forum with fellow former National Security Advisors Thomas E. Donilon and Stephen Hadley.[144] In October, Rice met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Hoover Institution Hauck Auditorium and asked the incumbent about issues such as protests in Iran and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[145][146]

In 2023, after former President Trump and Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis criticized US support for Ukraine, Rice stressed the need for any potential presidential candidates to understand the essence of the conflict, which she defined as "defending a rules-based system that says might doesn't make right, you can't just extinguish your neighbor."[147]

Author

[edit]

In February 2009, it was announced that Rice had signed a three-book deal with Crown Publishers worth at least $2.5 million. Crown reported that Rice would "combine candid narrative and acute analysis to tell the story of her time in the White House and as America's top diplomat, and her role in protecting American security and shaping foreign policy during the extraordinary period from 2001-2009."[148][149] In 2010, Rice released Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family, an account of her upbringing.[150][151][152] John McWhorter of The New York Times summarized, "If there is a lesson from Rice's book, it is that the civil rights revolution made it possible for an extremely talented black person (a woman, no less) to embrace a race-neutral subject and ride it into service as secretary of state, all the while thinking of herself largely as just a person."[153] In 2011, Rice wrote No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, a memoir of her time in the Bush administration.[154][155][156] In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Rice explained that she chose the title "because there really is no higher honor than serving your country" and named the Bush administration's attempts to consider "a different kind of Middle East" the hardest challenge they faced.[157] Susan Chira wrote that the book "shows us two Condoleezza Rices: one, the impatient unilateralist who was national security adviser, the other the born-again diplomat who, as secretary of state, worked to repair some of the damage that had been done to American credibility by its unilateralism."[158]

It was announced in 2013 that Rice was writing a book to be published in 2015 by Henry Holt & Company.[159]

In 2017, Rice released Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, a book in which she makes the case for democracy over totalitarianism or authoritarianism.[160][161] In an interview, Rice said she began writing the book three years before its release and pondered that her desire to write about democracy stemmed from her youth in Birmingham "when black citizens did not experience full democracy" under segregation.[162]

College Football Playoff Selection Committee

[edit]

In October 2013, Rice was selected to be one of the thirteen inaugural members of the College Football Playoff selection committee.[163] Her appointment caused a minor controversy in the sport.[164] In October 2014, she revealed that she watched "14 or 15 games every week live on TV on Saturdays and recorded games on Sundays."[165] Her term on the committee expired at the conclusion of the 2016 college football season.[166]

Cleveland Browns head coach rumors

[edit]

On November 18, 2018, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that a league source had told him that Rice was being considered as a candidate in the Cleveland Browns' head coach search.[167][168] This report sparked jokes at the expense of the Browns and outcry due to both Rice's lack of any experience in coaching and Rice being a woman. Shortly after the initial report, the Browns and General Manager John Dorsey denied the report saying, "Our coaching search will be thorough and deliberate, but we are still in the process of composing the list of candidates and Secretary Rice has not been discussed."[169][170] Rice, who is a lifelong Browns fan, also denied the reports but joked that she "would like to call a play or two next season if the Browns need ideas."[171]

Speculation on political future

[edit]
Rice speaks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Stanford University in 2022

As early as 2003, there were reports that Rice was considering a run for governor of California, while ruling out running for the Senate in 2004.[172] There was also speculation that Rice would run for the Republican nomination in the 2008 primaries, which she ruled out on Meet the Press. On February 22, 2008, Rice played down any suggestion that she may be on the Republican vice presidential ticket: "I have always said that the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected office in the United States."[173]

For Presidency

[edit]
A variation of a campaign button put out by Americans For Rice, similar to the famous "I like Ike" button.

The "Draft Condi" movement (or "Draft Rice" movement) was a grassroots effort to draft Rice to run for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. election. At that time, Rice had become one of the most powerful female and African American political figures in U.S. history. In August 2004[174] and again in August 2005 Forbes magazine named Rice the world's most powerful woman.[175] And in August 2006, Forbes named Rice the second most powerful woman in the world, behind Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.[176]

As Secretary of State, Rice was fourth in line to succeed George W. Bush as president. That is higher in the U.S. presidential line of succession than any woman before Nancy Pelosi became the Speaker of the House. (Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was not a natural-born U.S. citizen and was therefore ineligible to become president.) On April 8, 2008, Rice denied any interest in serving as running mate for John McCain, stating that she intended instead to return to Stanford University.[177] Her supporters have touted a future vice presidential or presidential candidacy, and later as a candidate for the 2018 California Gubernatorial election.

Rice repeatedly said that she had no desire or interest in becoming president. Interviewed by Tim Russert on March 14, 2005, Rice declared, "I will not run for president of the United States. How is that? I don't know how many ways to say 'no' in this town."[178]

During an interview with Russian Echo Moscow Radio, Rice was asked about her intentions concerning running for president.[179] When asked by a schoolgirl, "One day you will run for president?" she replied, "President, да, да [yes, yes]," before she quickly answered with "нет, нет, нет [no, no, no]."

However, in May 2005, several of Rice's associates claimed that she would be willing to run for the presidency if she were drafted into the race.[180] On October 16, 2005, on NBC's Meet the Press, Rice again denied she would run for president in 2008. While she said she was flattered that many people wanted her to run, she said it was not what she wanted to do with her life. Rice told Fox News Sunday host, Chris Wallace: "I'm quite certain that there are going to be really fine candidates for president from our party, and I'm looking forward to seeing them and perhaps supporting them."[181] Interviewed on BBC television's The Politics Show on October 23, she again stated her decision not to run.

Certain high-profile political figures, including Laura Bush, former White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, and world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin[182] and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard[183] have also voiced encouragement. Laura Bush has perhaps been the strongest proponent of Rice's candidacy. On CNN's The Situation Room on January 17, 2006, Mrs. Bush implicated Rice when asked if she thought the United States would soon have a female president, stating: "I'd love to see her run. She's terrific."[184] Mrs. Bush then turned to advocacy during an interview on CNN's Larry King Live on March 24, 2006, in which she stated that Rice would make an "excellent president," and that she wished Americans could "talk her into running."[185] However, Mrs. Bush has also stated that Rice will not run for president "[p]robably because she is single, her parents are no longer living, she's an only child. You need a very supportive family and supportive friends to have this job."[186]

Rice was frequently mentioned as a possible opponent of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election, a scenario that was the subject of the book Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race, by political strategist Dick Morris and his wife, Eileen McGann-Morris, published in October 2005.

Rice had publicly expressed aspirations to become the next commissioner of the National Football League and following the announcement of Paul Tagliabue's retirement, she was widely believed to be a serious contender for the post. If appointed to the office, she would have been both the first African American and the first female commissioner of any North American major sports league. However, Rice, a Cleveland Browns fan, said she was not interested in replacing Tagliabue, saying that she preferred to remain as Secretary of State.[187]

In May 2007, the Des Moines Register found that among Republicans "one-half of likely participants in the party’s caucuses would like to see Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, campaign for president", a greater portion than for Fred Thompson or Newt Gingrich.[188]

For Vice presidency

[edit]

During an interview with the editorial board of The Washington Times on March 27, 2008, Rice said she was "not interested" in running for vice president.[189] In a Gallup poll from March 24 to 27, 2008, Rice was mentioned by eight percent of Republican respondents to be their first choice to be John McCain's Republican vice presidential running mate, slightly behind Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.[190]

Republican strategist Dan Senor said on ABC's This Week on April 6, 2008, that "Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for" the vice presidential nomination. He based this assessment on her attendance of Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform conservative leader's meeting on March 26, 2008.[191] In response to Senor's comments, Rice's spokesperson denied that Rice was seeking the vice presidential nomination, saying, "If she is actively seeking the vice presidency, then she's the last one to know about it."[192]

In August 2008, the speculation about a potential McCain–Rice ticket finally ended when then-Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska was selected as McCain's running-mate.

In early December 2008, Rice praised President-elect Barack Obama's selection of New York senator Hillary Clinton to succeed her as Secretary of State, saying "she's terrific". Rice, who spoke to Clinton after her selection, said Clinton "is someone of intelligence and she'll do a great job".[193]

Rumors arose once again during the 2012 presidential race that presumptive nominee Mitt Romney was looking into vetting Rice for the vice presidency. Rice once again denied any such intentions or desires to become the vice president, reiterating in numerous interviews that she "is a policy maker, not a politician."[194] Speculation ended in August 2012 when Romney announced that Representative Paul Ryan was chosen as his running-mate.[195] Rice campaigned for the Romney-Ryan ticket in the general election.[196][197]

According to Bob Woodward's 2018 book Fear: Trump in the White House, then-Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus told then Republican nominee Donald Trump, that he should drop out of the race for the good of the party following the release of the Access Hollywood tapes. During these discussions, it was revealed that Mike Pence, the vice presidential nominee, had agreed to replace Trump on the top of the ticket as the Republican presidential nominee, with Rice agreeing to be Pence's running mate.[198]

While promoting his book Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants, former President Bush revealed he wrote-in Rice in the 2020 election and said that although Rice was aware of the vote, she told him she "would refuse to accept the office."[199][200]

Political positions

[edit]

Condoleezza Rice is often described as a centrist or moderate Republican.[201][202] On The Issues, a non-partisan organization which rates candidates based on their policy positions, considers Rice to be a centrist.[203] She takes both liberal and conservative positions; she is pro-choice on abortion, supports gun rights, opposes same-sex marriage but supports civil unions, and supports building oil pipelines such as the Keystone XL pipeline.[204][205]

Terrorist activity

[edit]
Rice meets with Afghan foreign minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta to discuss anti-terrorism efforts, 2006

Rice's policy as Secretary of State viewed counter-terrorism as a matter of being preventative, and not merely punitive. In an interview on December 18, 2005, Rice stated: "We have to remember that in this war on terrorism, we're not talking about criminal activity where you can allow somebody to commit the crime and then you go back and you arrest them and you question them. If they succeed in committing their crime, then hundreds or indeed thousands of people die. That's why you have to prevent, and intelligence is the long pole in the tent in preventing attacks."[206]

Rice has promoted the idea that counterterrorism involves not only confronting the governments and organizations that promote and condone terrorism, but also the ideologies that fuel terrorism. In a speech given on July 29, 2005, Rice asserted that "[s]ecuring America from terrorist attack is more than a matter of law enforcement. We must also confront the ideology of hatred in foreign societies by supporting the universal hope of liberty and the inherent appeal of democracy."[207]

Rice chats with a member of the Saudi Royal Family after welcoming the new king Salman of Saudi Arabia, January 27, 2015

In January 2005, during Bush's second inaugural ceremonies, Rice first used the term "outposts of tyranny" to refer to countries Rice thought 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.[citation needed]

Abortion

[edit]

Rice said "If you go back to 2000 when I helped the president in the campaign. I said that I was, in effect, kind of libertarian on this issue. And meaning by that, that I have been concerned about a government role in this issue. I am a strong proponent of parental choice—of parental notification. I am a strong proponent of a ban on late-term abortion. These are all things that I think unite people and I think that that's where we should be. I've called myself at times mildly pro-choice."[208] She would not want the federal government "forcing its views on one side or the other."[209] She did not want the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, Roe v. Wade, to be overturned.[210]

Rice said she believes President Bush "has been in exactly the right place" on abortion, "which is we have to respect the culture of life and we have to try and bring people to have respect for it and make this as rare a circumstance as possible". However, she added that she has been "concerned about a government role" but has "tended to agree with those who do not favor federal funding for abortion, because I believe that those who hold a strong moral view on the other side should not be forced to fund" the procedure.[209]

Affirmative action

[edit]

Rice has taken a centrist approach to "race and gender preferences" in affirmative action policies.[211] She described affirmative action as being "still needed," but she does not support quotas.[212]

Female empowerment advocacy

[edit]

In March 2014, Rice joined and appeared in video spots for the Ban Bossy campaign, a television and social media campaign designed to ban the word "bossy" from general use because of its harmful effect on young girls. Several video spots with other notable spokespersons including Beyoncé, Jennifer Garner and others were produced along with a web site providing school training material, leadership tips, and an online pledge form to which visitors can promise not to use the word.[53][54]

Immigration

[edit]

Condoleezza Rice supported the comprehensive immigration plan backed by the Bush administration and shared that it was among her regrets that it did not pass through Congress.[213] In 2014, Rice criticized the Obama administration from seeking to approve immigration reforms through executive action.[214] In February 2017 Rice publicly announced her opposition to the Trump administration's travel ban.[213]

Gun rights

[edit]

Rice says that she became a "Second Amendment absolutist" due to her experience of growing up in Birmingham and facing threats from the KKK.[214] "Rice's fondness for the Second Amendment began while watching her father sit on the porch with a gun, ready to defend his family against the Klan's night riders."[215]

Same-sex marriage and LGBT issues

[edit]

While Rice does not support same-sex marriage, she does support civil unions. In 2010, Rice stated that she believed "marriage is between a man and a woman ... But perhaps we will decide that there needs to be some way for people to express their desire to live together through civil union."[216] When asked to select a view on a survey, Rice selected a response that said "Same-sex couples should be allowed to form civil unions, but not marry in the traditional sense."[217]

Confederate monuments

[edit]

In May 2017, Rice said she opposes the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials or the renaming of buildings named after Confederate generals.[218] She argued, "If you forget your history, you're likely to repeat it. ... When you start wiping out your history, sanitizing your history to make you feel better, it's a bad thing."[219]

Racial discrimination

[edit]

Rice experienced firsthand the injustices of Birmingham's discriminatory laws and attitudes. She was instructed by her parents to walk proudly in public and to use the facilities at home rather than face shame from the "colored" facilities in town. As Rice recalls, "they refused to allow the limits and injustices of their time to limit our horizons."[220]

President Bush signing the bill for a Rosa Parks statue at Statuary Hall, Washington, D.C.

However, Rice recalls various times in which she suffered discrimination on account of her race, which included being relegated to a storage room at a department store instead of a regular dressing room, being barred from going to the circus or the local amusement park, being denied hotel rooms, and even being given bad food at restaurants.[221] Also, while Rice was mostly kept by her parents from areas where she might face discrimination, she was very aware of the civil rights struggle and the problems of Jim Crow laws in Birmingham. A neighbor, Juliemma Smith, described how "[Condi] used to call me and say things like, 'Did you see what Bull Connor did today?' She was just a little girl and she did that all the time. I would have to read the newspaper thoroughly because I wouldn't know what she was going to talk about."[221] Rice herself said of the segregation era: "Those terrible events burned into my consciousness. I missed many days at my segregated school because of the frequent bomb threats."[221]

During the violent days of the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend Rice armed himself and kept guard over the house while Condoleezza practiced the piano inside. Reverend Rice instilled in his daughter and students that black people would have to prove themselves worthy of advancement, and would simply have to be "twice as good" to overcome injustices built into the system.[222][223]

Rice said "My parents were very strategic, I was going to be so well prepared, and I was going to do all of these things that were revered in white society so well, that I would be armored somehow from racism. I would be able to confront white society on its own terms."[224] While the Rices supported the goals of the civil rights movement, they did not agree with the idea of putting their child in harm's way.[221]

Rice was eight when her schoolmate Denise McNair, aged 11, was murdered in the bombing of the primarily black Sixteenth Street Baptist Church by white supremacists on September 15, 1963.[2] Rice has commented upon that moment in her life:

I remember the bombing of that Sunday School at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. I did not see it happen, but I heard it happen, and I felt it happen, just a few blocks away at my father's church. It is a sound that I will never forget, that will forever reverberate in my ears. That bomb took the lives of four young girls, including my friend and playmate, Denise McNair. The crime was calculated to suck the hope out of young lives, bury their aspirations. But those fears were not propelled forward, those terrorists failed.[225]

Legacy

[edit]
Rice greets U.S. military personnel at the American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 15, 2005.

Rice has appeared four times on the Time 100, Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people. Rice is one of only nine people in the world whose influence has been considered enduring enough to have made the list—first compiled in 1999 as a retrospective of the 20th century and made an annual feature in 2004—so frequently. However, the list contains people who have the influence to change for better or for worse, and Time has also accused her of squandering her influence, stating on February 1, 2007, that her "accomplishments as Secretary of State have been modest, and even those have begun to fade" and that she "has been slow to recognize the extent to which the U.S.'s prestige has declined."[226] In its March 19, 2007, issue it followed up stating that Rice was "executing an unmistakable course correction in U.S. foreign policy."[227]

In 2004 and 2005, she was ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine and number two in 2006 (following the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel).[228]

Rice makes an appearance at Boston College, where she is greeted by Father William Leahy.

Criticism from Senator Barbara Boxer

[edit]

California Democratic senator Barbara Boxer has also criticized Rice in relation to the war in Iraq. During Rice's confirmation hearing for U.S. secretary of state in January 2005, Boxer stated, "I personally believe—this is my personal view—that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell the war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth."[229]

On January 11, 2007, Boxer, during a debate over the war in Iraq, said, "Now, the issue is who pays the price, who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, within immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families, and I just want to bring us back to that fact."[230]

The New York Post and White House press secretary Tony Snow called Boxer's statement an attack on Rice's status as a single, childless female and referred to Boxer's comments as "a great leap backward for feminism."[231] Rice later echoed Snow's remarks, saying "I thought it was okay to not have children, and I thought you could still make good decisions on behalf of the country if you were single and didn't have children." Boxer responded to the controversy by saying "They're getting this off on a non-existent thing that I didn't say. I'm saying, she's like me, we do not have families who are in the military."[232]

Conservative criticism

[edit]

According to The Washington Post in late July 2008, former undersecretary of state and U.N. ambassador John R. Bolton was referring to Rice and her allies in the Bush Administration whom he believes abandoned earlier hard-line principles when he said: "Once the collapse begins, adversaries have a real opportunity to gain advantage. In terms of the Bush presidency, this many reversals this close to the end destroys credibility ... It appears there is no depth to which this administration will not sink in its last days."[233]

Former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly criticized Rice after their terms in office ended. In his book Known and Unknown: A Memoir, he portrayed her as a young, inexperienced academic who did not know her place.[234] In 2011, she responded, saying that Rumsfeld "doesn't know what he's talking about."[235] She further addresses the issue in her own book, saying "He would become frustrated when my staff would reach out to military officers in the Pentagon to coordinate the particulars of a policy among the agencies. This was a routine responsibility for the NSC, but for some reason Don interpreted such actions as a violation of his authority."[236]

In his book In My Time, Dick Cheney suggested that Rice had misled the president about nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, saying that she was naïve. He called her advice on the issue "utterly misleading." He also chided Rice for clashing with White House advisers on the tone of the president's speeches on Iraq and said that she, as the secretary of state, ruefully conceded to him that the Bush administration should not have apologized for a claim the president made in his 2003 State of the Union address, on Saddam's supposed search for yellowcake uranium. She "came into my office, sat down in the chair next to my desk, and tearfully admitted I had been right," Cheney wrote. Rice responded: "It certainly doesn't sound like me, now, does it?", saying that she viewed the book as an "attack on my integrity."[237]

Rice has also been criticized by other conservatives. Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard accused her of jettisoning the Bush Doctrine, including the Iraq War troop surge of 2007.[238] Other conservatives criticized her for her approach to Russia policy and other issues.[239]

Views within the Black American community

[edit]
Rice's approval ratings from January 2005 to September 2006

Rice's ratings decreased following a heated battle for her confirmation as Secretary of State and following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Rice's rise within the George W. Bush administration initially drew a largely positive response from many in the black community. In a 2002 survey, then National Security Advisor Rice was viewed favorably by 41% of black respondents, but another 40% did not know Rice well enough to rate her and her profile remained comparatively obscure.[240] As her role increased, some black commentators began to express doubts concerning Rice's stances and statements on various issues. In 2005, The Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson asked, "How did [Rice] come to a worldview so radically different from that of most black Americans?"[241]

Rice and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer participate in a news conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, 2007.

In August 2005, American musician, actor, and social activist Harry Belafonte, who served on the Board of TransAfrica, referred to blacks in the Bush administration as "black tyrants." Belafonte's comments received mixed reactions.[240]

Rice dismissed these criticisms during a September 14, 2005 interview when she said, "Why would I worry about something like that? ... The fact of the matter is I've been black all my life. Nobody needs to tell me how to be black."[242]

Black commentators have defended Rice, including Mike Espy,[243] Andrew Young,[244] C. Delores Tucker (chair of the National Congress of Black Women),[244] Clarence Page,[245] Colbert King,[246] Dorothy Height (chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women)[246] and Kweisi Mfume (Congressman and former CEO of the NAACP).[247]

Personal life

[edit]

Rice has never married and has no children.[231] In the 1970s, she dated and was briefly engaged to professional American football player Rick Upchurch but left him because, according to biographer Marcus Mabry, she "knew the relationship wasn't going to work."[46]

Rice's mother, Angelena Rice, died of breast cancer in 1985, aged 61, when Rice was 30.[248] In 1989, Rice's father, John Wesley Rice, wed Clara Bailey,[249] to whom he remained married until his death in 2000, aged 77.[250]

From 2003 to 2017, Rice co-owned a house in Palo Alto, California with a woman, Randy Bean. According to public records, the two initially bought the house with a third investor, Stanford University professor Coit D. Blacker, who later sold his line of credit to the two women. The property arrangement was first revealed in Glenn Kessler's book The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy (2007), sparking rumors about the nature of Rice and Bean's relationship. Kessler has stated he "did not know if this meant there was something more to the relationship between the women beyond a friendship."[251][252][253][254]

On August 20, 2012, Rice was one of the first two women to be admitted as members to Augusta National Golf Club; the other was South Carolina financier Darla Moore.[255] In 2014, Rice was named to the ESPNW Impact 25.[256] Rice has described her faith as Presbyterian, being a noted member of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.[257][258][259][260] She has also been a member at Westminster Presbyterian Church USA in Alabama.[261][262][263]

Music

[edit]
Yo-Yo Ma and Rice after performing together at the 2001 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal Awards, April 22, 2002

At the age of 15, Rice played a Mozart Piano Concerto with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, her prize for winning a student music competition.[264] Until college, she planned to become a professional pianist and still plays with an amateur chamber music group in Washington. She accompanied cellist Yo-Yo Ma in playing Johannes Brahms' Violin Sonata in D minor at Constitution Hall in April 2002 for the National Medal of Arts Awards.[264][265]

She has performed at diplomatic events at embassies, including a performance for Queen Elizabeth II,[266][267] and she has performed in public with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and singer Aretha Franklin.[268] In 2005, Rice accompanied Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, a 21-year-old soprano, for a benefit concert for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association at the Kennedy Center in Washington.[269][270] She performed briefly during her cameo appearance in the "Everything Sunny All the Time Always" episode of 30 Rock. She has stated that her favorite composer is Johannes Brahms, because she thinks Brahms's music is "passionate but not sentimental."[271] On a complementary note, Rice has revealed on multiple occasions that she enjoys the band Led Zeppelin,[272] and in a 2009 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, she stated that it was her favorite band.[273][274]

As Secretary of State, Rice was ex officio a member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As the end of their tenures approached in January 2009, outgoing President Bush appointed her to a six-year term on the board of trustees.[275]

Honorary degrees

[edit]

Rice has received several honorary degrees from various American universities, including:

Honorary degrees
State Year School Degree
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia 1991 Morehouse College Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Alabama 1994 University of Alabama Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)
 Indiana 1995 University of Notre Dame Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[276][277]
 District of Columbia 2002 National Defense University Doctor of National Security Affairs[278]
 Mississippi 2003 Mississippi College School of Law Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Kentucky 2004 University of Louisville Doctor of Public Service (DPS)
 Michigan 2004 Michigan State University Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)[279]
 Massachusetts 2006 Boston College Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[280]
 Alabama 2008 Air University Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.)[281]
 North Carolina 2010 Johnson C. Smith University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[282]
 Texas 2012 Southern Methodist University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[283]
 Virginia 2015 College of William and Mary Doctor of Public Service (DPS)[284]
 Tennessee 2018 Sewanee: The University of the South Doctor of Civil Law (DCL)[285]
 New York 2021 Siena College Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)[286]

Honors

[edit]

Published works

[edit]
  • Rice, Condoleezza (1984). The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army: Uncertain Allegiance. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-06921-2
  • Rice, Condoleezza & Dallin, Alexander (eds.) (1986). The Gorbachev Era. Stanford Alumni Association, trade paperback (1986), ISBN 0-916318-18-4; Garland Publishing, Incorporated, hardcover (1992), 376 pages, ISBN 0-8153-0571-0.
  • Rice, Condoleezza with Zelikow, Philip D. (1995). Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft. Harvard University Press. (1995), 520 pp., ISBN 0-674-35324-2, 0-674-35325-0.
  • Rice, Condoleezza, "Campaign 2000: Promoting the National Interest" in Foreign Affairs, 2000.
  • Rice, Condoleezza, with Kiron K. Skinner, Serhiy Kudelia, and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita (2007). The Strategy of Campaigning: Lessons from Ronald Reagan and Boris Yeltsin Archived May 27, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, paperback, 356 pp., ISBN 978-0-472-03319-5. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
  • Rice, Condoleezza (2010), Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family, Crown Archetype, ISBN 978-0-307-58787-9
  • Rice, Condoleezza (2011), No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington. Crown Archetype, ISBN 978-0-307-58786-2
  • Rice, Condoleezza (2017), Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, Twelve, 496 pp., ISBN 978-1455540181.
  • Rice, Condoleezza; Zegart, Amy (2018). Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity. New York: Twelve. ISBN 978-1455542352. OCLC 1019846069.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 66th from 2005 to 2009 and as Advisor from 2001 to 2005 in the administration of President . She was the first woman to hold the position of Advisor and the first African-American woman to serve as . A specialist in Soviet and East European affairs, Rice shaped U.S. foreign policy during the end of the , , and the post-9/11 era, including efforts to promote abroad and responses to global terrorism. Born in , during the civil rights era, Rice earned a in , cum laude and , from the , a master's from the , and a PhD from the . She joined the faculty at in 1981, rising to become its provost from 1993 to 1999, and served in the administration as Director of Soviet and East European Affairs in the . In the administration, she advised on major initiatives such as the and peace efforts, including negotiations facilitating Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. Rice's tenure involved contentious decisions, including reliance on intelligence assessments about weapons of mass destruction in that were later found to be inaccurate, contributing to debates over the war's justification and costs. Post-administration, she returned to Stanford as the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy and became the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the , continuing to influence discourse on and .

Early Life and Education

Childhood in Birmingham

Condoleezza Rice was born on November 14, 1954, in , during the height of under . She was the only child of John Wesley Rice Jr., a Presbyterian minister who served as pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church and worked as a guidance counselor, and Angelena Ray Rice, who taught English, science, music, and oratory in Birmingham's public schools. The family lived in the predominantly black Titusville neighborhood, a middle-class area where her parents provided a structured environment emphasizing education, discipline, and self-reliance amid the surrounding threats of violence from white supremacists. Rice attended the segregated Center Street Elementary School, where her mother taught, and her early years were marked by her parents' insistence on academic excellence and protection from overt racism, though the city's nickname "" reflected over 50 dynamite attacks on black homes and institutions between 1947 and 1965. On September 15, 1963, when Rice was eight years old, members of the detonated a bomb at the , killing four black girls—Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley—who were preparing for youth choir practice. Rice, playing at her family's home just a few blocks away, felt the blast's shockwave and later learned that McNair, a playmate from her class, was among the victims. This event shattered the relative insulation her parents had maintained, prompting Rice to question the depth of racial hatred she encountered and contributing to her family's decision to prioritize vigilance; her father subsequently organized armed neighborhood watches for protection, carrying a himself during services. The bombing, which injured 22 others and galvanized national support for civil rights legislation, underscored the pervasive danger in Birmingham, where police under Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor had used fire hoses and dogs against black protesters earlier that year. Despite these perils, Rice's childhood in Birmingham was relatively sheltered by her parents' efforts, who focused on instilling confidence and achievement rather than , teaching her to outperform whites as a form of resilience. She developed early interests in reading, music, and , attending Westminster Presbyterian Church services and local schools until the family relocated to , , in 1967 when her father accepted a position at the . This period forged her worldview, blending awareness of systemic injustice with a emphasis on personal agency, as evidenced by her later reflections on the bombing's personal toll without descending into perpetual grievance.

Family Influences and Early Interests

Condoleezza Rice was born on November 14, 1954, in , as the only child of John Wesley Rice Jr., a Presbyterian minister, educator, and former football coach who later served as a high school guidance counselor, and Angelena Ray Rice, a high school teacher specializing in science, music, and oratory. Her parents, both deeply committed to education and personal achievement, instilled in her a strong emphasis on academic excellence and self-discipline amid the racial tensions of segregated Birmingham, where her father also directed a church youth group aimed at broadening children's exposure to the arts, culture, and intellectual pursuits. Rice's paternal grandfather, a former sharecropper named John Wesley Rice Sr., had prioritized education by attending despite financial hardship, a value passed down through her family that reinforced the transformative power of learning. From an early age, Rice demonstrated exceptional precocity, learning to read by age five, skipping the first and seventh grades, and graduating from high school at fifteen, achievements her parents nurtured through rigorous expectations and enrollment in challenging courses. Her mother played a pivotal role in fostering her musical talents, beginning piano lessons at age three and encouraging performances that built her discipline and poise. Complementing this, Rice pursued French and Spanish lessons after school, alongside ballet and competitive figure skating, which she practiced during family summer trips to Denver, Colorado, developing skills that demanded physical rigor and perseverance. These pursuits, guided by her parents' belief in holistic development, shielded her from the era's overt violence—such as frequent bombings in their neighborhood—while equipping her with the resilience and breadth of interests that shaped her trajectory toward higher education and public service.

Undergraduate and Graduate Studies

Rice enrolled in the at the age of 15 and completed her undergraduate studies there, earning a degree in in 1974 at age 19; she graduated cum laude and was elected to . Following her bachelor's degree, Rice pursued graduate education at the , where she received a in in 1975. She then returned to the University of Denver's Graduate School of International Studies to complete her doctorate. In 1979, while working toward her Ph.D., Rice studied at to deepen her expertise in Soviet affairs. She defended her dissertation in 1981, focusing on the Soviet Union's negotiating stance regarding intermediate-range nuclear forces in the context of ; it was later published by as Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Negotiating Position on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces.

Academic Career

Stanford Faculty Appointment

In 1981, shortly after earning her PhD in political science from the University of Denver, Condoleezza Rice was appointed as an assistant professor of political science at . This entry-level faculty position marked the start of her academic career, where she focused on , particularly Soviet and East European studies, leveraging her dissertation on Soviet military force management in . Rice's hiring at age 26 reflected Stanford's recognition of her specialized expertise in and , areas informed by her prior internships and fellowships, including time at the . During her initial tenure as from 1981 to 1987, Rice demonstrated strong and scholarly contributions, earning two of Stanford's highest honors: the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for excellence in and the School of Humanities and Sciences Outstanding Award. These accolades underscored her effectiveness in the classroom, where she taught courses on and , drawing on empirical analyses of Soviet behavior rather than ideological narratives prevalent in some academic circles. Her research output during this period included publications on and Eastern European , establishing her as a rising voice in realist scholarship. Rice's appointment and early performance at Stanford occurred amid a broader institutional context of expanding programs focused on dynamics, where her data-driven approach to Soviet studies—emphasizing observable military deployments and doctrinal shifts—contrasted with more interpretive methods in parts of academia. By prioritizing verifiable indicators of state power over unsubstantiated assumptions, her work contributed to Stanford's reputation for rigorous, policy-relevant analysis.

Rise to Provost

Rice began her academic career at in 1981 as an assistant professor of , shortly after earning her Ph.D. from the . Her research focused on Soviet and Eastern European affairs, contributing to the Center for International Security and Arms Control, where she served as a member. During this period, she received two of Stanford's highest teaching honors, reflecting her effectiveness as an educator. She was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and achieved full professorship with tenure by 1993, advancing rapidly due to her specialized expertise in amid the Cold War's end. From 1989 to 1991, Rice took leave from Stanford to serve on the under President , directing Soviet and East European affairs. Upon returning to Stanford in 1991, she resumed her faculty role and engaged in administrative activities that positioned her for leadership. In May 1993, Stanford President appointed her provost, effective September 1, after being impressed by her during the selection process; at age 38, she became the university's youngest provost, as well as the first woman and first African American in the role. The position entailed oversight of academic programs and the budget as the chief academic officer.

Expertise in Soviet and Nuclear Affairs

Rice earned her PhD in from the in 1981, with a dissertation titled "The Politics of Client Command: Party-Military Relations in , 1948-1975," which analyzed the Soviet Union's control mechanisms over allied militaries in through party oversight and purges. This work underscored the tensions between ideological loyalty and professional autonomy in Soviet-influenced armed forces, drawing on declassified documents and interviews to reveal patterns of uncertain allegiance. She adapted and expanded her dissertation into the monograph The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army, 1948-1983: Uncertain Allegiance, published by Princeton University Press in 1984, which detailed how Moscow maintained dominance over Prague's military via purges, doctrinal alignment, and operational dependencies, while Czech forces retained limited independence in non-strategic roles. The book highlighted case studies like the 1968 Prague Spring invasion, where Soviet intervention exposed vulnerabilities in client-state command structures. Complementing this, Rice published "The Party, the Military, and Decision Authority in the Soviet Union" in the journal World Politics in 1987, arguing that Soviet defense policy emerged from a division of labor where the Communist Party provided strategic guidance while deferring technical details to military experts, influencing outcomes in areas like force modernization. These publications positioned Rice as a leading scholar on Soviet civil- relations, emphasizing empirical analysis of archival evidence over ideological narratives prevalent in some Western academia. Her focus on decision-making hierarchies extended to implications for stability, as Soviet in nuclear command-and-control systems affected deterrence credibility. Post-PhD, Rice secured a one-year fellowship at Stanford University's Center for International Security and (CISAC) in 1980-1981—the first woman admitted—which facilitated her appointment as an assistant professor of in 1981. As a continuing member of CISAC and a senior fellow at Stanford's Institute for International Studies, she engaged in interdisciplinary research on , nonproliferation, and strategic stability, institutions dedicated to analyzing nuclear risks amid tensions. This involvement deepened her expertise in nuclear affairs, bridging Soviet with U.S. policy debates on treaties like START, where understanding Moscow's opaque command processes was essential for verifiable reductions. Rice lectured on at Stanford, integrating her Soviet specialization with technical assessments of nuclear force postures and verification challenges. Her work critiqued overly optimistic views of Soviet compliance, prioritizing realist evaluations of incentives over détente-era assumptions.

Pre-Government Professional Roles

Private Sector Involvement

Prior to entering the administration, Condoleezza Rice held several corporate board positions that aligned with her academic expertise in and . On May 8, 1991, appointed her to its , marking her as one of the company's first female directors at age 36. She served in this capacity until January 15, 2001, when she resigned to assume the role of Advisor, chairing Chevron's public policy committee during her tenure. In 1993, Chevron named a 129,000-deadweight-ton supertanker the SS Condoleezza Rice in recognition of her contributions, though the vessel was renamed the SS Altus in May 2001 following her government appointment to mitigate conflict-of-interest concerns. Rice also joined the board of in 1991, a and firm, contributing to oversight of its global operations. Concurrently, she served on the board of the , a brokerage and investment firm, providing strategic guidance on international markets. These roles, held alongside her Stanford faculty position, compensated her with director fees and stock options typical for such appointments, though specific compensation details were not publicly disclosed at the time. Additionally, in 1992, Rice was elected to the Company board of directors, leveraging her knowledge of technology and Soviet-era reforms amid the firm's expanding global supply chains. She resigned after approximately one year in 1993 upon her promotion to Stanford Provost, citing the demands of her new administrative duties as incompatible with board responsibilities. Her corporate engagements underscored intersections between her scholarly focus on energy —particularly in post-Soviet regions—and interests in emerging markets.

Early Political Advisory Positions

In 1986, while serving as an international affairs fellow with the , Condoleezza Rice acted as special assistant to the director of the , focusing on nuclear strategic planning. This role involved contributing expertise on and Soviet military capabilities, drawing on her academic background in . By 1987, she had expanded her advisory capacity to the more broadly, providing counsel on strategic military policy amid escalating U.S.-Soviet tensions during the Reagan administration's final years. Following her tenure on the from 1989 to 1991, Rice returned to but maintained involvement in political advisory circles through think tank affiliations, including as a senior fellow at the . In 1998, she was recruited by then-Texas Governor to serve as a foreign policy advisor during his presidential campaign, leveraging her prior experience with Soviet affairs and . She coordinated an eight-member advisory group known as the Vulcans, which included figures like and Richard Armitage, and acted as Bush's primary tutor on international issues, helping to formulate campaign positions on , , and . This advisory work positioned her as a key architect of Bush's platform, emphasizing realism and strength in dealings with authoritarian regimes.

National Security Advisor Tenure (2001–2005)

Pre-9/11 National Security Strategy

As National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice coordinated the Bush administration's initial review of national security policies, directing a comprehensive assessment of structures, threats, and capabilities launched on January 30, 2001. This effort, overseen through principals meetings, prioritized military transformation to address 21st-century challenges, including the development of defenses to counter proliferation from rogue states like and . The strategy emphasized engagement with great powers, particularly and , to manage competition and reduce nuclear arsenals unilaterally where feasible, moving beyond Cold War-era arms control treaties such as the . Rice advocated for revising these agreements to enable U.S. systems, reflecting a view that was outdated and that active defenses were essential for deterrence. By June 2001, this approach facilitated President Bush's summit with Russian President in , where discussions advanced arms reduction talks outside formal treaty constraints. Counterproliferation formed a core pillar, targeting state sponsors of weapons of mass destruction through strengthened export controls and intelligence sharing, rather than emphasizing non-state terrorist networks. While threats were noted in early memos, such as Richard Clarke's January 25, 2001, assessment to Rice, ranked below state-centric risks in policy prioritization, with resources allocated primarily to and great-power . This focus aligned with Bush's campaign promise of a "humble" avoiding overcommitment to peripheral conflicts.

Post-9/11 War on Terrorism

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice coordinated the Council's immediate response, elevating to the administration's top priority and focusing efforts on and its hosts in . Rice participated in urgent strategy sessions at on September 15-16, 2001, alongside President , Vice President , Secretary of Defense , and other principals, where the decision crystallized to pursue military action against the unless they expelled leaders, including . This led to the U.S. demand delivered to the on September 20, 2001, and the subsequent launch of on October 7, 2001, initiating the invasion of with allied support to dismantle terrorist networks and remove the from power. Rice oversaw the integration of , , and diplomatic elements into a cohesive framework, relying on the Counterterrorism Security Group—chaired by Richard Clarke—for interagency in the attacks' aftermath. The administration, under her advisory role, forged a global coalition involving over 136 countries that offered assistance, enabling operations that disrupted al-Qaeda's safe havens and captured or killed key figures, while emphasizing that the conflict constituted a long-term against ideological rather than a mere issue. In public statements, Rice articulated that true victory required not only defeating terrorists but addressing the conditions fostering their ideology, framing as the initial front in a broader campaign. During her April 8, 2004, testimony before the , Rice defended the post-9/11 pivot, noting that the attacks prompted a doctrinal shift to proactive defense, including military preemption against terrorist sponsors, which underpinned the operation's success in toppling the by December 2001 and establishing an interim government under . She highlighted early briefings received upon taking office and the administration's rapid mobilization, which prevented further domestic attacks during her tenure, though critics like Clarke argued for even swifter pre-invasion focus on . Rice maintained that remained the immediate priority over other theaters initially, with U.S. forces prioritizing the destruction of training camps and leadership, achieving the liberation of approximately 50 million people from rule by early 2002.

Iraq Policy Development

As National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice played a pivotal role in the Bush administration's war cabinet, which included President , Vice President , Secretary of State , and Secretary of Defense , deliberating Iraq policy in the wake of the , 2001 attacks. Post-9/11 assessments prompted a policy pivot from the Clinton-era containment via sanctions and no-fly zones to prioritizing , formalized as a core objective by late 2001. Rice coordinated principals and deputies committees, facilitating interagency debates on intelligence indicating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and potential ties to terrorism, though operational al Qaeda links remained unproven at the time. In August 2002, amid internal reservations—particularly from Powell—Rice arranged a private two-hour meeting between Powell and Bush at his ranch to discuss strategy, underscoring her function in bridging administration perspectives. She publicly advanced the case for preemptive action, warning on September 8, 2002, during a interview that 's pursuit of high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear centrifuges posed an unacceptable risk: "We don't want to be a ." This reflected administration concerns over Saddam Hussein's defiance of UN resolutions and concealment of dual-use materials, including efforts to acquire uranium and components. Rice contributed to shaping the September 2002 National Security Strategy of the , which codified a of preemptive strikes against gathering threats, explicitly applicable to rogue states like amassing WMD. On October 1, 2002, she defended this shift in a speech, emphasizing that traditional deterrence failed against unpredictable regimes and that historical precedents for preemption were limited but justified by post-9/11 realities, without overturning or deterrence entirely. The strategy underpinned congressional authorization for force against via the Iraq Resolution passed on October 16, 2002. By January 2003, as UN weapons inspectors under Resolution 1441 reported limited cooperation, Rice authored an titled "Why We Know is Lying," detailing discrepancies in 's 12,200-page declaration—such as omissions of stocks, chemical warheads filled with precursors, and plagiarized sections—contrasting this with voluntary disarmament by nations like and . She argued 's institutional obstructions and material movements evidenced intent to retain prohibited capabilities, urging compliance or facing consequences, as Saddam and his son Qusay directed concealment efforts. These arguments aligned with administration intelligence assessments, later critiqued for overreliance on flawed sources, though Rice maintained in subsequent reflections that prewar evaluations of 's WMD ambitions were as robust as available data permitted. The policy culminated in the March 20, 2003 invasion, with Rice overseeing NSC coordination for Operation Iraqi Freedom, aimed at dismantling WMD infrastructure and toppling the regime; post-invasion searches yielded no active stockpiles but uncovered undeclared program elements, validating aspects of prewar suspicions while highlighting intelligence gaps. Rice's tenure thus marked the transition from deliberation to execution, embedding within the broader war on terrorism framework despite debates over causal links to 9/11.

Detainee Interrogation Policies

During her tenure as Advisor, Condoleezza Rice played a central role in the Principals Committee's review and authorization of the Agency's (CIA) enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) for high-value detainees captured after the , 2001, attacks. These techniques, developed in response to intelligence gaps on potential follow-on plots, included , prolonged , stress positions, and the use of in confinement, and were first applied to following his capture on March 28, 2002. The committee, comprising Rice, Vice President , Attorney General , Secretary of Defense , and CIA Director , convened in late July 2002 to evaluate CIA proposals after initial (OLC) analyses affirmed their lawfulness under U.S. anti-torture statutes. Rice provided verbal approval for in July 2002, prior to formal OLC memos dated August 1, 2002, which detailed the techniques' parameters and concluded they avoided severe physical or mental pain prohibited by law. This authorization extended to subsequent detainees, including in March 2003, where Tenet sought and received Principals Committee endorsement for EITs to elicit information on active threats. The approvals were predicated on CIA assurances of effectiveness in yielding actionable intelligence, such as details on networks, though a 2014 Senate Select Committee report—approved on a 9-6 partisan vote and contested by Republicans for selective —argued the program produced limited unique value while risking U.S. credibility. Rice consistently defended the policies as calibrated responses to an existential terrorist threat, emphasizing in 2008 that they complied with legal constraints and saved lives by disrupting plots, and in 2013 confirming President George W. Bush's direct involvement in vetting specific applications. She argued in that presidential inherently aligned techniques with U.S. , rejecting characterizations of them as absent evidence of intent to inflict prohibited harm. Critics, including organizations, have alleged the methods constituted under international standards like the UN Convention Against , but administration officials, including Rice, maintained they were non-torturous based on OLC interpretations distinguishing them from historical abuses. No criminal charges resulted from the program, with subsequent reviews like the Justice Department probe declining prosecution due to insufficient evidence of willful misconduct.

Secretary of State Tenure (2005–2009)

Transformational Diplomacy Initiative

As , Condoleezza Rice introduced the Transformational Diplomacy initiative on January 18, , during a speech at in . The policy sought to redefine American diplomatic efforts by emphasizing partnerships to foster democratic and capable states abroad, rather than traditional paternalistic aid or mere . Rice articulated the objective as working with international partners to build and sustain well-governed nations that address their citizens' needs and fulfill responsible roles in global affairs, integrating diplomacy with broader U.S. foreign assistance reforms announced the following day. The initiative prioritized repositioning U.S. diplomatic resources away from capitals and toward underserved regions and local communities to enhance engagement. This included reallocating 100 Foreign Service positions from and Washington headquarters in the first year, with hundreds more over subsequent years to , , and the . Structural changes encompassed establishing American Presence Posts in provincial areas, such as in and , alongside Virtual Presence Posts for remote outreach, and creating Regional Public Diplomacy Centers in and the . Career advancement for diplomats was tied to acquiring multi-regional expertise, proficiency in critical languages like and Chinese, and willingness to serve in challenging assignments. Implementation extended to interagency collaboration, including cross-training between the and the National Defense University to better integrate diplomatic and military efforts in conflict zones like and . Rice advocated for a civilian reserve corps to support post-conflict stabilization and emphasized leveraging technology for efficient . In congressional testimony on February 15, 2006, she outlined these elements as elevating within countries, distinguishing the approach from prior by prioritizing values-based engagement over relativism. Evaluations of outcomes varied; while State Department reports highlighted expanded presence and program dispersion as steps toward success, critics argued that the initiative's effectiveness was constrained by prior U.S. policy and lacked robust metrics for assessing impacts.

Middle East Peace Efforts

As , Condoleezza Rice pursued renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, emphasizing a amid ongoing violence and political shifts, including Israel's Gaza disengagement and the 2006 Hamas electoral victory. She conducted multiple trips to the region, facilitating trilateral meetings between Israeli Prime Minister , Palestinian President , and U.S. officials to address security, borders, and economic aid. In early 2007, Rice hosted talks in that sought progress on checkpoints and movement restrictions but yielded no major breakthroughs due to mutual distrust and settlement activities. Rice's efforts intensified leading to the on November 27, 2007, the first high-level peace summit hosted on U.S. soil, co-convened by President with participation from over 40 countries, the (U.S., , UN, ), and regional leaders. At the conference, Olmert and Abbas committed to immediate bilateral negotiations toward a final-status agreement by the end of 2008, covering core issues like , refugees, and borders, with Rice delivering closing remarks underscoring the urgency of implementing prior Roadmap obligations. The event produced a joint understanding for sustained talks, supported by U.S. pledges for $5.6 billion in aid to over five years to bolster institutions and counter extremism. Following Annapolis, Rice led follow-up diplomacy, including nine trilateral meetings in 2008 and pressure on to halt settlement expansions, though violence in Gaza—such as rocket attacks and Israeli responses—hampered momentum. In March 2008, she shuttled between and to revive talks stalled by a Jerusalem housing dispute, securing temporary concessions but no lasting accord. By late 2008, Rice asserted that the process had narrowed differences on principles like land swaps and security arrangements, despite failing to meet the deadline, attributing setbacks to Palestinian divisions and Israeli domestic politics rather than inherent U.S. policy flaws. The administration's initiative marked the most structured U.S.-backed negotiations in years, though critics noted limited enforcement mechanisms and the exclusion of , which controlled Gaza after 2007. No comprehensive emerged before Rice's tenure ended in January 2009.

Relations with Russia and China

As Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice sought to maintain cooperative ties with while pressing for adherence to democratic norms and resolving disputes over security architecture. In May 2005, she emphasized ongoing U.S. support for Russia's accession to the and resolution of economic barriers, amid efforts to integrate into global institutions. However, Rice voiced strong objections to proposed Russian legislation that would impose stringent registration and funding restrictions on nongovernmental organizations, warning in December 2005 that such measures threatened and contradicted Russia's commitments under international agreements like the . Tensions escalated over U.S. plans for systems in , which Russia viewed as provocative, and disagreements on Kosovo's independence in 2008. Rice's visit to Georgia on July 9, 2008, where she affirmed U.S. backing for Tbilisi's , preceded the August by weeks, after which she condemned Russia's military response as disproportionate and aimed at . In September 2008, addressing the deterioration in relations, Rice described the U.S. approach as treating as an emerging partner rather than a defeated adversary, while supporting its political and financial integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, though she highlighted Moscow's authoritarian drift as a barrier to deeper cooperation. Efforts to stabilize ties included high-level meetings, such as Rice's April 20, 2005, encounter with President in , focusing on and . In March 2008, alongside Defense Secretary , Rice engaged Putin and President-elect in , advocating for a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to replace the expiring agreement and discussing cooperation, though Russian objections persisted. With , Rice prioritized economic dialogue to address trade imbalances and issues, while cooperating on multilateral efforts like the on North Korea's nuclear program. During her March 21, 2005, visit to , she raised specific cases and broader concerns about religious freedom and political dissent, urging to fulfill its international obligations. In July 2005, Rice met Chinese Foreign Minister in to advance the U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue, established to manage economic frictions including currency valuation and . Rice warned in August 2005 that 's export-driven growth model required fundamental reforms, such as appreciating the yuan and reducing subsidies, to avoid global economic disruptions and comply with WTO rules. Despite these pressures, relations featured pragmatic collaboration; participated actively in the , with Rice crediting Beijing's diplomatic leverage in pressuring , though progress stalled amid North Korean intransigence. U.S. concerns over 's military buildup and tensions persisted, with Rice affirming the U.S. commitment to a peaceful resolution under the "" policy while arming defensively per the . Overall, Rice's approach balanced competition in strategic domains with interdependence in economics, viewing as a responsible stakeholder in global stability rather than an outright adversary.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Efforts

During her tenure as , Condoleezza Rice emphasized multilateral diplomacy and sanctions to curb nuclear proliferation by states such as and , while pursuing agreements to integrate non-NPT signatories like into global non-proliferation norms. She supported the continuation of the Proliferation Security Initiative, which facilitated interdictions of illicit nuclear materials, and engaged with the on innovative approaches to sensitive nuclear technologies, including fuel leasing to reduce proliferation risks. Rice's efforts yielded mixed results: completed its dismantlement of nuclear assets inherited from the 2003 decision, enabling normalized relations, but conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006 shortly after a joint statement committing to denuclearization, and persisted in uranium enrichment despite UN Security Council resolutions. In the involving the , , , , , and , Rice advocated for verifiable dismantlement of Pyongyang's nuclear facilities as a prerequisite for aid and normalization, rejecting as a policy goal following the 2006 test. The talks produced a February 2007 agreement under which disabled its Yongbyon reactor and declared facilities by June 2008, though verification stalled amid disputes over samples and additional uranium enrichment sites, leading to Rice's insistence on transparency during ministerial meetings in in July 2008. These steps temporarily froze aspects of 's program but failed to achieve complete, irreversible dismantlement before Pyongyang's April 2009 test and withdrawal from talks. Rice described the process as requiring to "get serious" about abandoning its weapons program for potential economic rewards, framing it as a strategic choice rather than . On Iran, Rice coordinated with European allies and the UN to impose escalating sanctions under resolutions beginning in December 2006, targeting Tehran's refusal to suspend enrichment and comply with IAEA safeguards, which she characterized as a direct threat to regional security and the non-proliferation regime. In May 2006, she announced U.S. readiness for direct talks if halted enrichment and reprocessing, a shift from prior isolation to incentivize compliance with incentives like access to civilian cycles. Despite these overtures, 's program advanced, with Rice later stressing multilateral pressure—including financial restrictions—to isolate hardliners, though she acknowledged limits in compelling behavioral change without broader international unity. Rice's September 2008 visit to Libya marked the first by a U.S. secretary of state in 55 years, celebrating Tripoli's 2003-2004 renunciation of weapons of mass destruction, including the shipment of nuclear components abroad and IAEA verification of dismantlement. She certified Libya's $1.5 billion compensation for Lockerbie bombing victims, paving the way for full diplomatic restoration and removal from state sponsor of terrorism lists, presenting it as a model for coercive diplomacy's success in reversing proliferation. Concurrently, Rice advanced the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, signed on October 10, 2008, which separated India's civilian and military programs, allowed U.S. fuel and technology transfers for the former, and required India to place safeguards on new facilities—aimed at drawing the non-NPT nuclear power into the regime despite criticisms that it legitimized unsafeguarded weapons development. Proponents, including Rice, argued it strengthened global non-proliferation by fostering cooperation and countering China's influence, though arms control advocates contended it eroded NPT universality.

Post-Administration Activities

Return to Stanford and Hoover Institution Leadership

Upon completing her service as U.S. in January 2009, Condoleezza Rice returned to as a professor of political science, resuming her academic career after a decade in high-level government positions. She simultaneously rejoined the , Stanford's , as the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on , a role that built on her prior affiliations there dating back to the . In September 2010, Rice took on the position of Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where she co-directed the Denning Family Center for Global Business and the Economy, focusing on integrating geopolitical analysis with economic decision-making in teaching and research. These roles enabled her to mentor students and faculty on and strategic leadership, drawing from her experiences in Soviet studies and policy. On January 28, 2020, Stanford announced Rice's appointment as the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the , effective September 1, succeeding Thomas Gilligan after his seven-year tenure. In this capacity, she oversees the institution's programs, fellowships, and initiatives on free markets, , and global , emphasizing empirical amid ongoing debates over institutional biases in academia toward progressive viewpoints. As of 2025, Rice continues in this directorship, maintaining her Stanford professorships while advancing Hoover's mission as a counterpoint to prevailing left-leaning narratives in higher education.

Authorship and Lectures

Following her tenure as , Condoleezza Rice published Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family in 2010, recounting her childhood in segregated , and the influence of her parents on her development. In 2011, she released No Higher Honor: A of My Years in Washington, a 784-page account of her roles as Advisor and , including detailed narratives of post-9/11 decision-making and the policy formulation. The , published by , topped lists and provided her perspective on Bush administration challenges, such as response and global diplomacy. Rice co-authored Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity with Amy B. Zegart in 2018, analyzing modern political risks from non-state actors like terrorists and hackers, and offering frameworks for corporate mitigation based on her governmental experience. Published by Twelve Books, it emphasized proactive assessment over traditional state-centric threats. In 2017, she authored Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, drawing on historical cases from ancient to post-apartheid to argue for democratic resilience amid contemporary setbacks. As a prominent , Rice has delivered speeches at universities and institutions post-2009, often addressing , , and U.S. . At Southern Methodist University's 2012 commencement, she urged graduates to embrace service amid global uncertainties, highlighting 's role in empowerment. In a 2011 lecture titled "Why Matters," she discussed and the American national myth in promoting empowerment abroad. She spoke at the 's 2023 retreat on civil rights and legal frameworks' impact, reflecting on her formative experiences. Rice's lectures, including appearances in the "" series in 2023, frequently underscore realism in and the value of grounded in institutions. Her talks at Stanford and the , where she serves as director, integrate academic analysis with policy insights, attracting audiences on topics like and global order.

Sports Committee Roles and Coaching Speculation

In 2013, Condoleezza Rice was appointed to the (CFP) Selection Committee, a 13-member panel tasked with ranking the top 25 FBS teams, selecting the four semifinalists, and assigning teams to bowls. She served through the 2016 season, with her term officially expiring in January 2017 alongside chair and two others, during which she acted as conference liaison for the ACC and MAC in her final year, having previously handled the Big Ten and Big 12. As the committee's only , Rice drew on her lifelong affinity for football—rooted in her father John Rice's role as a Presbyterian minister and high school football and coach in —to evaluate teams "with a coach's eye," emphasizing metrics like , head-to-head results, and performance against common opponents over subjective factors. Rice's committee tenure highlighted her football acumen, informed by childhood attendance at games and games of her father's teams, as well as adult engagement including brief engagement to former player ; she advocated for data-driven decisions amid criticisms of the process's transparency. Post-CFP, she maintained sports involvement through , serving as a temporary special advisor to athletics director Bernard Muir during his 2023 transition and expressing intent to remain engaged in Cardinal athletics oversight. Speculation about Rice pursuing a coaching role emerged prominently in November 2018, when ESPN reporter Adam Schefter cited a source claiming the Cleveland Browns sought to interview her for their head coaching vacancy amid a search for an "outside-the-box" hire. The report fueled brief buzz given Rice's vocal fandom—she has worn a Browns jersey in NFL promotional ads and professed deep loyalty to the team—but was swiftly denied by the Browns' front office, which clarified no such interview was planned and emphasized hiring an "experienced coach." Rice herself dismissed the rumors on Facebook, stating her love for the Browns while affirming, "I know they will hire an experienced coach to take us to the next level," and reiterated in a 2021 "Monday Night Football" broadcast that she had "no intention" of coaching professionally. No further credible reports of coaching interest have surfaced, with Rice focusing instead on advisory and analytical roles in sports governance rather than on-field leadership.

Recent Commentary on Global Affairs (2010s–2025)

In the 2010s and 2020s, Condoleezza Rice has frequently commented on global affairs through speeches, interviews, op-eds, and her role at the , advocating for robust U.S. leadership to counter authoritarian challenges while critiquing isolationist tendencies. In a 2024 Foreign Affairs article, she warned against U.S. withdrawal from international commitments, arguing that ignores the interconnected threats from revisionist powers and risks ceding influence to adversaries like and . She has emphasized that American power, grounded in alliances and deterrence, remains essential for maintaining a rules-based order, drawing from her realist perspective that prioritizes strategic interests over idealistic overreach. Rice has been vocal on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, framing it as an existential test of Western resolve against imperial aggression. In September 2024, she stated that Vladimir Putin's nationalism seeks to restore a Russian empire, rendering an independent Ukraine incompatible with his goals, and urged sustained support to prevent a Russian victory that could embolden further expansionism. By February 2023, she argued on CBS's Face the Nation that Putin believed he could outlast international backing for Kyiv, calling for comprehensive measures to undermine Moscow's war effort. In June 2025, following Ukrainian strikes on Russian assets, Rice described Putin's responses as signs of desperation and highlighted Russia's economy as in "dire straits," predicting that sustained pressure could force concessions without full capitulation. She viewed potential diplomatic pivots, such as those signaled by U.S. policy shifts in mid-2025, as possible turning points only if backed by credible threats of escalation. Regarding , has portrayed it as a systemic rival whose rise demands proactive U.S. countermeasures, including technological safeguards and alliance-building. In October 2025, she discussed the geopolitical tensions in a Wall Street Journal interview, stressing the need to navigate uncertainties without naive engagement. She warned in 2025 remarks that cuts to U.S. research funding exacerbate vulnerabilities to Chinese intellectual property theft and dominance in critical technologies. advocated exploiting fissures in the -Russia-Iran-North Korea axis, as noted at the Aspen Security Forum in July 2025, to disrupt their coordinated challenges to U.S. interests. In broader 2025 speeches, she linked 's assertiveness to the erosion of globalization's borderless benefits, urging a "new economic and security commons" through selective coalitions rather than universal institutions. On issues, Rice has critiqued passive approaches to instability while supporting targeted actions against threats like 's nuclear ambitions. In a 2012 Washington Post op-ed, she argued that Syria's civil war threatened regional cohesion, requiring intervention to prevent jihadist safe havens and Iranian dominance. Regarding the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, she defended the Trump administration's 2018 withdrawal in multiple interviews, stating it would not precipitate disaster and that the accord's sunset clauses failed to permanently constrain Tehran's program. By June 2025, she praised U.S. strikes on Iranian facilities as enhancing American credibility and significantly delaying nuclear weaponization, aligning with her view that deterrence through strength outperforms diplomatic concessions. Rice's commentary consistently underscores the perils of retrenchment, as in her September 2025 ABC discussion on rebuilding global cooperation amid trends driven by great-power rivalry. She has praised coalition-building efforts, such as those under the second Trump administration in 2025 for stabilization, while cautioning that short-term ceasefires must yield to enduring strategic advantages.

Political Philosophy and Positions

Foreign Policy Realism

Condoleezza Rice's foreign policy philosophy is rooted in classical realism, emphasizing the primacy of national interests, balance of power among states, and the enduring realities of international anarchy over idealistic or moralistic approaches. Trained as a Soviet specialist at Stanford University, Rice analyzed the USSR's behavior through a lens of strategic imperatives and power dynamics, arguing that its expansionism stemmed from imperial incentives rather than mutable ideology. This perspective informed her early advocacy for a U.S. foreign policy that prioritizes military strength and great-power competition, as evidenced in her 2000 Foreign Affairs article "Campaign 2000: Promoting the National Interest," where she critiqued the Clinton administration's expansive definition of national interest—including humanitarian interventions and multilateral norms—as diluting focus on core security threats like rogue states and peer competitors. Rice advocated narrowing U.S. commitments to achievable goals, such as modernizing the military for power projection and fostering stable relations with Russia and China to prevent adversarial alliances. During her tenure as National Security Advisor and under President George W. Bush, Rice positioned herself as a restraining realist influence amid neoconservative pushes for ideological transformation abroad. She supported the invasion on grounds of national security threats posed by weapons programs and sponsorship but later emphasized pragmatic adjustments, such as the 2007 surge, which integrated military stabilization with political realism about Iraqi factionalism. Analysts have credited her realist orientation with policy shifts, including multilateral negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program in 2007, diverging from Cheney's harder line to pursue verifiable denuclearization through incentives and pressure. Rice described this approach as "American realism," blending with the promotion of open markets, , and democratic institutions as instruments to enhance U.S. influence rather than universal ends. In post-administration reflections, Rice has reiterated that effective realism requires anchoring in enduring principles to sustain long-term U.S. leadership, warning against isolationism or unchecked power vacuums exploited by adversaries like and . She argued that post-World War II successes in and derived from combining military deterrence with and democratic , creating prosperous allies that bolstered American security. This "principled realism" integrates moral commitments—such as combating tyranny—subservient to strategic interests, rejecting pure realpolitik's amoralism while avoiding Wilsonian overreach. Critics from neoconservative circles have questioned the consistency of her restraint, viewing it as insufficiently transformative, while some academic analyses suggest undertones of neoconservative faith in democracy's universal appeal beneath her realist framework. Nonetheless, Rice's record demonstrates a consistent prioritization of empirical assessments of power capabilities over ideological prescriptions.

Domestic Social Issues

Condoleezza Rice has articulated moderate positions on , describing herself as "mildly pro-choice" while opposing late-term procedures, public funding via , and emphasizing parental notification and consent for minors. In a 2005 interview, she characterized her approach as "kind of libertarian," expressing reluctance for involvement in such moral decisions but supporting restrictions to protect after the first trimester. This stance drew criticism from social conservatives during speculation of her vice-presidential candidacy in 2012, who viewed it as insufficiently pro-life. On , Rice has supported its use as one factor in university admissions and hiring to address historical , provided it avoids quotas or mismatches that undermine merit. As Stanford University's provost in the , she opposed applying race-based preferences in tenure decisions, prioritizing qualifications over demographic targets. In , she reaffirmed its necessity for contextualizing disadvantages faced by minorities, arguing that pure color-blind policies ignore persistent socioeconomic barriers without empirical evidence of widespread reverse . Her position reflects a balance between remedying past inequities and preserving standards, contrasting with stricter opposition from some conservatives. Regarding same-sex marriage, Rice has maintained that marriage traditionally constitutes a union between a man and a woman, rooted in religious and cultural norms, but advocated for civil unions or equivalent legal protections to ensure no denial of rights such as or visitation. In 2006, as , she called for sensitivity and respect in the debate, avoiding personal endorsement of federal recognition while supporting state-level accommodations. This nuanced view aligns with her broader emphasis on individual liberties without redefining institutions, earning praise from moderates but reservations from traditionalists. Rice has prioritized as a core domestic social imperative, warning that failing K-12 systems pose a risk by producing underprepared citizens unable to compete globally. She co-chaired a 2012 Council on Foreign Relations task force advocating high standards, accountability, and expanded , including charter schools and vouchers, to empower parents and disrupt failing public monopolies. Drawing from her upbringing in segregated , where family-driven education enabled her ascent, Rice argued that proficiency by third grade is critical, with empirical data showing illiteracy correlating to lifelong poverty and crime. Her advocacy influenced Republican platforms, emphasizing outcomes over inputs like increased spending, which she critiqued for yielding stagnant results despite trillions invested since the 1960s.

Views on Race, Identity, and American Exceptionalism

Condoleezza Rice has consistently emphasized individual agency and opportunity over collective grievance in discussing race relations in the United States. Born in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, in 1954, she witnessed the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which killed four Black girls, yet she has argued that fixating on past injustices hinders progress. In a June 7, 2020, interview on Face the Nation, Rice stated, "We have a very painful history. That's a very hard truth. But it is the truth of the past. We now have to talk about how to move forward," advocating for policies that address current disparities through education and economic mobility rather than perpetual racial framing. She has critiqued approaches like critical race theory (CRT), warning in an October 20, 2021, appearance on The View that it risks making "white kids feel bad for being white" and disempowering Black children by portraying them primarily as victims of systemic racism, instead urging empowerment through recognition of personal potential irrespective of race. Rice maintains that America has achieved "enormous progress in race relations" since the civil rights era, though she acknowledges ongoing tensions and rejects full "race blindness" as unrealistic, prioritizing measurable outcomes like closing achievement gaps over ideological narratives. Regarding personal and group identity, Rice has drawn from her upbringing in a stable, education-focused Black family to underscore self-reliance and merit as antidotes to identity-based limitations. In her 2010 memoir Extraordinary, Ordinary People, she described how her parents instilled a sense of discipline and aspiration amid segregation, rejecting dependency on external validation or racial essentialism. She has opposed reactive identity politics, noting in various interviews that "race is a constant factor in American life" but "reacting to every incident, real or imagined, is crippling, tiring, and ultimately counterproductive," favoring instead a focus on achievements that build self-esteem. Rice's trajectory—from a child barred from certain public spaces to the first Black female U.S. Secretary of State—exemplifies her belief that identity should motivate excellence rather than excuse underperformance, as she told Time magazine in June 2017: "When I made the most of the opportunity I was given, I was given more and more opportunities." This perspective aligns with her criticism of affirmative action excesses, such as in the 2019 college admissions scandal, where she highlighted the need for genuine merit to create sustainable opportunities for minorities. Rice's views on these matters intersect with her robust endorsement of , which she defines not by ethnic or national ties but by the universal "American idea" of liberty and opportunity that transcends race. In her August 29, 2012, speech at the , she asserted, "That is the true basis of ... we are the most successful economic and political experiment in human history," crediting the nation's founding principles for enabling her own ascent despite racial barriers. She reiterated this in a December 6, 2010, interview, describing U.S. exceptionalism as rooted in a conception unbound by "nationality, , [or] religion," allowing immigrants and minorities to thrive through adherence to . For Rice, this exceptionalism is empirically validated by America's record of innovation and , including the integration of diverse groups post-civil rights reforms, though she cautions against complacency, urging continued commitment to equal application of laws and rejection of racial determinism to preserve it. Her personal narrative serves as a causal illustration: systemic change via civil rights legislation unlocked individual paths, proving the exceptional capacity of American institutions to reward talent over origin when unhindered by bias or entitlement.

Controversies and Assessments

Criticisms from Left-Leaning Perspectives

Left-leaning critics have focused on Rice's central role in the George W. Bush administration's post-9/11 foreign policy, particularly her advocacy for the 2003 Iraq invasion premised on claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that later proved unfounded. As National Security Advisor, Rice publicly warned on September 11, 2002, that "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud," a statement Democrats during her January 2005 Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of State cited as emblematic of misleading rhetoric that exaggerated the Iraqi threat to justify preemptive war. Senator Barbara Boxer, for instance, accused Rice of "systematically misleading" Congress and the public by downplaying intelligence doubts about Saddam Hussein's WMD programs while emphasizing unverified ties to al-Qaeda. These critiques extended to Rice's oversight of intelligence processes, with opponents arguing she prioritized politicized assessments over , contributing to a war that, by 2011 estimates from sources like the Costs of War Project, caused over 4,400 U.S. troop deaths and up to 200,000 Iraqi civilian fatalities. Progressive outlets and activists, such as those in , portrayed her shift from academic restraint to neoconservative hawkishness as enabling an ideologically driven policy that undermined U.S. credibility abroad, especially after no WMD stockpiles were found post-invasion. Rice also faced accusations from advocates regarding the administration's "enhanced interrogation" program, which she helped formulate and defend as legal despite involving techniques like later classified as by critics including the Committee's 2014 report. Groups like CODEPINK labeled her a war criminal for approving such methods at and for Iraq-related deceptions, including fabricated uranium purchase claims from . In 2019, protesters at the University of Buffalo denounced her as a "torturer, a liar, and a war criminal" during a speaking event, echoing broader progressive demands for accountability over policies they viewed as violations of . Some left-leaning voices within academia and African American communities critiqued Rice's alignment with Republican orthodoxy as a betrayal of progressive values on race and inequality, arguing her defense of policies like the expanded executive surveillance powers disproportionately affecting minorities, though such claims often conflated policy disagreement with personal culpability. These perspectives, frequently amplified by outlets with institutional incentives to oppose Bush-era interventions, emphasized Rice's intellectual facilitation of outcomes they deemed empirically disastrous, including regional instability and trillions in U.S. costs, while rarely engaging counterarguments on Saddam's prior atrocities or post-9/11 threat assessments.

Conservative and Internal Republican Critiques

Some conservatives, particularly paleoconservatives like , have faulted Rice for her role in advocating the 2003 Iraq invasion, which Buchanan described as a strategic blunder costing over 4,500 American lives, 35,000 wounded soldiers, and $1 trillion, while failing to yield promised stability or democratic transformation in the region. Buchanan further critiqued her as emblematic of neoconservative overreach that deviated from traditional Republican restraint on foreign entanglements, arguing in his writings that such policies eroded U.S. strength without advancing core national interests. Within the Republican foreign policy establishment, Rice faced accusations of inadequate coordination as Advisor, with critics asserting she failed to mediate interagency disputes—particularly between and State Department—that exacerbated post-invasion chaos in , including insufficient planning for and reconstruction. This view gained traction amid broader conservative disillusionment with Bush-era outcomes, as evidenced by 2006 analyses noting eroding GOP support for the war's execution under her influence. On domestic issues, social conservatives have highlighted Rice's self-described "mildly pro-choice" stance on as incompatible with the GOP platform's emphasis on restricting the procedure, viewing it as a barrier to her viability in primaries dominated by pro-life voters. Similarly, her support for comprehensive , including a path to for undocumented immigrants, has drawn ire from restrictionist factions in the party base, who saw it as undermining border security and wage protections for American workers. Buchanan encapsulated these tensions by questioning her alignment with core Republican principles in a 2012 column, suggesting her positions rendered her an unfit .

Empirical Evaluations of Policy Outcomes

The 2007 troop surge, supported by as , correlated with a sharp decline in violence: civilian deaths fell from approximately 1,700 per month in late 2006 to under 300 by mid-2008, according to data from the , amid increased U.S. troop levels from 132,000 to 168,000 and integration with the Sunni Awakening. This tactical reduction in sectarian conflict and insurgent attacks enabled provincial elections and a U.S.- , but long-term stability proved elusive, as insurgent capabilities regrouped post-withdrawal, contributing to the rise of by 2014 with control over 40% of Iraqi territory at its peak. Overall costs under the Bush administration, in which played a key advisory role, exceeded 4,400 U.S. military deaths, over 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths by 2009 estimates from independent tallies, and $800 billion in direct expenditures, with no weapons of mass destruction found despite pre-invasion intelligence claims. In Afghanistan, initial post-9/11 operations endorsed by Rice as National Security Advisor toppled the regime by December 2001, disrupting leadership and preventing immediate follow-on attacks on U.S. soil, with U.S. casualties under 100 in the first year. However, the shift to without sufficient troop commitments led to Taliban resurgence by 2006, with opium production rising from 185 metric tons in 2001 to 8,200 tons by 2007, fueling insurgency funding, and governance failures evident in corruption indices where Afghanistan ranked 176th out of 180 countries by 2009. By the end of Bush's term, U.S. forces numbered around 30,000, but metrics like effective government control covered only 60% of the population, setting the stage for prolonged conflict costing over $700 billion through 2009. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), advanced under Rice's State Department stewardship, achieved measurable gains: by 2009, it supported antiretroviral treatment for 2.1 million people in , prevented an estimated 400,000 pediatric infections, and reduced HIV-related mortality rates in recipient countries by up to 50% in targeted programs, per U.S. government audits. Cumulative impacts through 2023 attribute 25 million lives saved to PEPFAR's framework, though critics note dependency on U.S. funding without equivalent local health system reforms. North Korea policy via the , facilitated by Rice from 2003-2009, yielded a 2005 joint statement committing to denuclearization in exchange for aid and security assurances, temporarily freezing reprocessing. Yet empirical failure ensued: conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006, withdrew from talks in 2009, and expanded its arsenal to an estimated 6-10 warheads by 2009, with missile tests increasing from 1 in 2005 to 11 in 2006, undermining non-proliferation goals.

Reception in African American Community

Condoleezza Rice's reception within the African American community has been polarized, reflecting admiration for her historic achievements alongside criticism tied to her political affiliations and policy decisions. As the first African American woman to serve as U.S. from January 2005 to January 2009, Rice symbolized breakthroughs in racial and gender barriers, earning praise as a for who overcame systemic obstacles through and merit. She has been celebrated for her address to the , highlighting her as the highest-ranking African American woman in U.S. at the time. A 2006 CBS News poll indicated significant recognition, with Rice tying as the most important leader named by African American respondents, underscoring her prominence despite her Republican ties. Supporters within the community have viewed her as an exemplar of personal agency and exceptionalism, with figures like interviewing her on overcoming segregation-era challenges in . Her emphasis on education and resonated with some, positioning her as inspirational for young girls aspiring to . Criticism, however, has been vocal from left-leaning African American leaders and activists, often framing Rice as disconnected from communal priorities due to her support for the and conservative stances. NAACP Chairman in 2006 labeled her and as "shields" for Bush administration policies perceived as harmful to Black interests. audience feedback in 2011 rejected her inclusion in tributes, citing her role in controversial foreign interventions over domestic racial advocacy. Some critiques highlighted her family's limited direct involvement in the , portraying her worldview as shaped by integrationist rather than activist traditions. This divide aligns with broader partisan fissures, as overwhelmingly support Democrats, leading to perceptions of Rice as an outlier whose conservatism undermines solidarity on issues like or racial grievance narratives. Despite such views, her symbolic power persists, with ongoing recognition in discussions of excellence and resilience.

Personal Life and Honors

Family Background and Personal Interests

Condoleezza Rice was born on November 14, 1954, in Birmingham, Alabama, as the only child of John Wesley Rice Jr. and Angelena Rice. Her father worked as a Presbyterian minister, high school guidance counselor, and football coach, while her mother taught music, science, and oratory in the local schools. The family resided in the middle-class Titusville neighborhood, where Rice's parents emphasized education and discipline amid the era's racial segregation, providing a sheltered environment that prioritized academic achievement over direct confrontation with external racism. John Wesley Rice Jr. died in 2000. Rice's family background reflected a tradition of professional attainment among in the , with her parents' roles in and the church fostering her early exposure to intellectual and cultural pursuits. Her mother, in particular, nurtured Rice's initial talents in music and performance, while her father modeled leadership through community and athletic involvement. This upbringing instilled a strong sense of personal responsibility and realism about societal barriers, as Rice later described her parents' approach as one of preparation for success rather than victimhood. Among her personal interests, Rice has long pursued , aspiring in childhood to become a concert pianist before shifting focus to . She maintains an affinity for sports, beginning at age 18 and continuing to play it alongside , which she took up later in life; these activities, along with broader athletic , have remained consistent hobbies into adulthood. Rice has credited such pursuits with teaching resilience and , principles she applied in professional contexts.

Musical and Athletic Pursuits

Rice began piano lessons in early childhood and pursued serious classical training starting at age 15 with aspirations of becoming a concert . She has performed publicly on multiple occasions, including a 2008 recital for Queen Elizabeth II at during a visit ahead of talks. In 2017, she joined cellist for a surprise duet of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 at the Kennedy Center Arts Summit. Additional performances include accompanying on a rendition of "" after playing Mozart's No. 20 in , and participating in ensembles featuring works by Dvořák and Brahms at the Aspen Ideas Festival. In athletics, Rice started around age three and became competitive by age 12 after her family relocated to , , in the late , though she discontinued it at 17 due to the demands of early-morning practices. She took up at age 18 and maintained a competitive level into adulthood, crediting sports with teaching resilience and preparation. Rice later adopted as a lifelong pursuit, starting in mid-life, and incorporated running into her routine, often discussing policy with President during jogs or matches. She maintains a disciplined fitness regimen, utilizing private gym facilities during travels.

Awards, Degrees, and Recognitions

Rice earned a degree in , cum laude and , from the in 1974 at age 19. She obtained a in from the in 1975. In 1981, Rice received a PhD in from the Graduate School of International Studies at the , with her dissertation examining Soviet strategic thought toward the Third World. As a faculty member at from 1981 onward, Rice received the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1984, one of the institution's highest honors for teaching. She was also awarded the School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1993. Rice has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Rice has received more than fifteen honorary doctorates from universities including but not limited to , , and the . She was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in recognition of her achievements as a native of the state. In 2015, she became the first woman to receive the National Football Foundation's , awarded for distinguished contributions to amateur football and related ideals. Rice also received the Sigma Xi William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement, honoring her interdisciplinary contributions bridging and international security analysis.

References

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