11月15日,美国总统布什任命国家安全顾问赖斯为国务卿,接替辞职的鲍威尔。除鲍威尔外,美国教育部长佩齐、农业部长维尼曼和能源部长斯潘塞·亚伯拉罕也递交了辞呈。至此,继上周美国司法部长约翰·阿什克罗夫特和商务部长唐·埃文斯双双正式辞职后,布什政府的15名内阁成员中已有6名“重臣”离去。请看下面的报道:US President Bush has chosen his national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state in his second term, a senior administration official said Monday.
Powell, a retired four-star general who often clashed with more hawkish members of the administration on Iraq and other foreign policy issues, resigned in a Cabinet exodus that promises a starkly different look to US President Bush's second-term team.
Hawkish表示“(政治上)有鹰派味道的;强硬派的,好战的”,因为hawk(鹰,隼)有“强硬派,鹰派人物”的意思,指那些显示出一种积极好战的或有侵略性态度的人,或为执行外交政策而倾向于采取军事力量或行动的主战派。
据悉,现年67岁的鲍威尔曾经担任过参谋长联席会议主席,2000年成为美国历史上第一位黑人国务卿。