Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza"Condi"Rice(/ˌkɒndəˈliːzə/KON-də-LEE-zə; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat andpolitical scientistserving since 2020 as the 8th  director ofStanford University'sHoover Institution. A member of theRepublican Party, she previously served as the 66thUnited States secretary of statefrom 2005 to 2009 and as the 19thU.S. national security advisorfrom 2001 to 2005. Rice was the first female African-American secretary of state and the first woman to serve as national security advisor. Until theelectionofBarack Obamaaspresidentin 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 thepresidential 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.
Rice was born inBirmingham, Alabama, and grew up while the South wasracially segregated. She obtained her bachelor's degree from theUniversity of Denverand her master's degree from theUniversity of Notre Dame, both in political science. In 1981, she received a PhD from the School of International Studies at the University of Denver.She worked at theState Departmentunder the Carter administration and served on theNational Security Councilas theSoviet and Eastern Europeaffairs advisor to PresidentGeorge H. W. Bushduring thedissolution of the Soviet UnionandGerman reunificationfrom 1989 to 1991. Rice later pursued an academic fellowship at Stanford University, where she later served asprovostfrom 1993 to 1999. On December 17, 2000, she joined theGeorge W. Bush administrationasnational 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 afterMadeleine Albrightto hold this office.
Following her confirmation as secretary of state, Rice pioneered the policy ofTransformational Diplomacydirected toward expanding the number of responsible democratic governments in the world and especially in theGreater Middle East. That policy faced challenges asHamascaptured a popular majority inPalestinianelections, and influential countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt maintained authoritarian systems (with U.S. backing). While in the position, she chaired theMillennium Challenge Corporation's board of directors.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.In September 2010, she became a faculty member of theStanford Graduate School of Businessand a director of its Global Center for Business and the Economy.In January 2020, it was announced that Rice would succeedThomas W. Gilliganas the next director of the Hoover Institution on September 1, 2020.She is on the Board of Directors ofDropboxand Makena Capital Management, LLC.
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,and dean of students atStillman College, ahistorically black collegeinTuscaloosa, Alabama.Her name, Condoleezza, derives from themusic termcon dolcezza(Italianfor 'sweetly, softly',lit.'with sweetness'). Rice has roots in theAmerican Southgoing back to thepre–Civil Warera, and some of her ancestors worked assharecroppersfor a time after emancipation. Rice discovered on thePBSseriesFinding Your Rootsthat she is of 51% African, 40% European, and 9% Asian or Native American genetic descent, while hermtDNAis traced back to theTikar peopleofCameroon.
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."Rice grew up in theTitusvilleneighborhood of Birmingham, and thenTuscaloosa, Alabama, at a time when the South wasracially segregated. The Rices lived on the campus of Stillman College.
Rice began to learn French, music, figure skating and ballet at the age of three.At the age of fifteen, she began piano classes with the goal of becoming a concertpianist.
In 1967, the family moved to Denver, Colorado. She attendedSt. Mary's Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school inCherry Hills Village, Colorado, and graduated at age 16 in 1971.Rice enrolled at the University of Denver, where her father worked at the time.
Rice initially majored in music, and after her sophomore year, she went to theAspen 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.She attended an International Politics course taught byJosef Korbel, which sparked her interest in theSoviet Unionandinternational relations. Rice later described Korbel (who is the father ofMadeleine Albright, then a future U.S. Secretary of State), as a central figure in her life.
In 1974, at age 19, Rice was inducted intoPhi Beta Kappasociety, and was awarded aB.A.degreecum laudein political science by the University of Denver. While at the University of Denver she was a member ofAlpha Chi Omega, Gamma Delta chapter.She obtained anM.A.degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 1975. She first worked in theState Departmentin 1977, during theCarter administration, as an intern in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She also studied Russian atMoscow State Universityin the summer of 1979, and interned with theRAND Corporationin Santa Monica, California.In 1981, at age 26, she received herPh.D.in political science from theJosef Korbel School of International Studiesat the University of Denver. Her dissertation centered on military policy and politics in what was then the communist state ofCzechoslovakia.
From 1980 to 1981, she was a fellow at Stanford University's Arms Control and Disarmament Program, having won aFord FoundationDual Expertise Fellowship inSoviet StudiesandInternational Security.Rice was one of only four women – along withJanne E. Nolan, Cindy Roberts, andGloria Duffy– studying international security at Stanford on fellowships at the time.Her fellowship at Stanford began her academic affiliation with the university and time in Northern California.
Rice was aDemocratuntil 1982, when she changed her political affiliation to Republican, in part because she disagreed with the foreign policy of Democratic PresidentJimmy Carter,and because of the influence of her father, who was Republican. As she told the2000 Republican National Convention, "My father joined our party because the Democrats inJim CrowAlabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did."
Rice was hired by Stanford University as anassistant professorof political science (1981–1987). She was promoted toassociate professorin 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 byUC BerkeleyprofessorGeorge W. Breslauerin the mid-1980s.
At a 1985 meeting of arms control experts at Stanford, Rice's performance drew the attention ofBrent Scowcroft, who had served as National Security Advisor underGerald Ford.With the election ofGeorge 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 toR. Nicholas Burns, President Bush was "captivated" by Rice, and relied heavily on her advice in his dealings withMikhail GorbachevandBoris Yeltsin.
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 ofGeorge 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.In 1992, Shultz, who was a board member ofChevron Corporation, recommended Rice for a spot on the Chevron board. Chevron was pursuing a $10 billion development project inKazakhstanand, as a Soviet specialist, Rice knew thepresident 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 SSCondoleezza Rice.During this period, Rice was also appointed to the boards ofTransamerica Corporation(1991) andHewlett-Packard(1992).
At Stanford, in 1992, Rice volunteered to serve on the search committee to replace outgoing presidentDonald Kennedy. The committee ultimately recommendedGerhard 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'sprovost, the chief budget and academic officer of the university in 1993and she also was grantedtenureand became fullprofessor.Rice was the first female, first African-American, and youngest provost in Stanford's history.She was also named asenior fellowof theInstitute 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."Acknowledging Rice's unique character, Casper toldThe New Yorkerin 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."
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.
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.
During a farewell interview in early December 2008, Rice indicated she would return to Stanford and the Hoover Institution, "back west of theMississippiwhere I belong," but beyond writing and teaching did not specify what her role would be.Rice's plans for a return to campus were elaborated in an interview with the Stanford Report in January 2009.She returned to Stanford as a political science professor and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution on March 1, 2009.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.
In 1986, Rice was appointed special assistant to the director of theJoint Chiefs of Staffto work on nuclear strategic planning as part of aCouncil on Foreign Relationsfellowship. 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.
North Korea signed theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treatyin 1985, but in 2002 revealed 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.
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.Despite the agreement in 2005, in 2006, North Korea test fired long range missiles. TheUN Security Councildemanded 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.
In 2006, Indian prime ministerManmohan Singhannounced the Agreement for Cooperation between the United States and India involving peaceful uses ofnuclear 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."
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 anoil tankerCondoleezza Riceafter her, but controversy led to its being renamedAltair Voyager.
Rice has served as an instructor atMIT Seminar XXI.She also served on theboard of directorsfor theCarnegie Corporation, theCharles Schwab Corporation, theChevron Corporation,Hewlett-Packard, theRand Corporation, theTransamerica 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 ofEast Palo Altoand easternMenlo Park, California.After her tenure as secretary of state, Rice was approached in February 2009 to fill an open position as aPac-10Commissioner,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 theBan Bossycampaign as a spokesperson advocating leadership roles for girls.
On July 11, 2022, theDenver Broncosannounced that Rice had joined the Walton-Penner ownership group (consisting ofS. Robson Walton,Greg Penner,Carrie Walton Penner,Mellody Hobson, andSir Lewis Hamilton), which recently agreed to buy the NFL team for $4.65 billion.On August 9, 2022, the NFL owners approved the purchase of theDenver Broncosby the Walton-Penner group.
In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, Rice served as special assistant to the director of theJoint Chiefs of Staff.
From 1989 through March 1991 (the period of the fall ofBerlin Walland the final days of theSoviet Union), she served in PresidentGeorge 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 theVerkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, againstindependence. She also helped develop Bush's and Secretary of StateJames Baker's policies in favor ofGerman reunification. She impressed Bush, who later introduced her to Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev, as the one who "tells me everything I know about the Soviet Union."
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 governorPete Wilsonappointed 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.
During George W. Bush's2000 presidential electioncampaign, 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 itselfthe Vulcansin honor of the monumentalVulcan statue, which sits on a hill overlooking her hometown of Birmingham,Alabama. Rice would later go on to give anoteworthy speechat the2000 Republican National Convention. The speech asserted that "...  America's armed forces are not a global police force. They are not the world's911."
On December 16, 2000, Rice was named as National Security Advisor,upon which she stepped down from her position at Stanford.She was the first woman to occupy the post. Rice earned the nickname of "Warrior Princess", reflecting strong nerve and delicate manners.
On January 18, 2003,The Washington Postreported 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.
During the summer of 2001, Rice met withCIAdirectorGeorge Tenetto 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"held at the White House at Tenet's request to brief Rice and the NSC staff about the potential threat of an impendingal Qaedaattack. Rice responded by asking Tenet to give a presentation on the matter to Secretary Donald Rumsfeld andAttorney GeneralJohn Ashcroft.
Rice characterized the August 6, 2001,President's Daily BriefBin Ladin Determined To Strike in USas historical information. Rice indicated "It was information based on old reporting."Sean Wilentz ofSalonmagazinesuggested that the PDB contained current information based on continuing investigations, including that Bin Laden wanted to "bring the fighting to America."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.
When asked in 2006 about the July 2001 meeting, Rice asserted she did not recall the specific meeting, commenting that she had metrepeatedlywith Tenet that summer about terrorist threats. Moreover, she stated that it was "incomprehensible" to her that she had ignored terrorist threats two months before theSeptember 11 attacks.
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 byJefferson Awards.
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.
In March 2004, Rice declined to testify before theNational Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States(the 9/11 Commission). The White House claimedexecutive privilegeunder 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.In April 2007, Rice rejected, on grounds of executive privilege, a House subpoena regarding the prewar claim that Iraq soughtyellowcake uraniumfromNiger.
Rice was a proponent of the2003 invasion of Iraq. AfterIraqdelivered its declaration ofweapons of mass destructionto theUnited Nationson December 8, 2002, Rice wrote aneditorialforThe New York Timesentitled "Why We Know Iraq Is Lying".In a January 10, 2003, interview with CNN'sWolf 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."
In October 2003, Rice was named to run theIraq Stabilization Group,to "quell violence in Iraq and Afghanistan and to speed the reconstruction of both countries."By May 2004,The Washington Postreported that the council had become virtually nonexistent.
Leading up to the2004 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."
After the invasion, when it became clear that Iraq did not have nuclearWMDcapability, critics called Rice's claims a "hoax", "deception" and "demagogic scare tactic".Dana Milbank and Mike Allen wrote inThe 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".
ASenate Intelligence Committeereported that on July 17, 2002, Rice met with CIA directorGeorge Tenetto personally convey the Bush administration's approval of the proposedwaterboardingof alleged Al Qaeda leaderAbu 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."Waterboarding is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts,war veterans,intelligence officials,military judges,human rights organizations,former U.S. attorney generalEric Holder,and many senior politicians, including former U.S. PresidentBarack Obama.
In 2003 Rice, Vice PresidentDick Cheneyand Attorney GeneralJohn Ashcroftmet with the CIA again and were briefed on the use of waterboarding and other methods including week-longsleep 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".
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."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."
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."She added, "We were told, nothing that violates our obligations under theConvention Against Torture. And so, by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Conventions Against Torture."
In 2015, citing her role in authorizing the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques",Human Rights Watchcalled for the investigation of Rice "for conspiracy to torture as well as other crimes."
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.The negative votes, the most cast against any nomination for Secretary of State since 1825,came from Senators who, according to SenatorBarbara Boxer, wanted "to hold Dr. Rice and the Bush administration accountable for their failures in Iraq and in the war on terrorism."Their reasoning was that Rice had acted irresponsibly in equating Saddam's regime withIslamistterrorism and some could not accept her previous record. SenatorRobert Byrd, a prominent Senate institutionalistwho 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."
As Secretary of State, Rice championed the expansion of democratic governments and other American values: "American values are universal.""An international order that reflects our values is the best guarantee of our enduring national interest..."Rice stated that theSeptember 11 attacksin 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.
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."
As Secretary of State, Rice traveled heavily and initiated many diplomatic efforts on behalf of the Bush administration;she holds the record for most miles logged in the position.Her diplomacy relied on strong presidential support and is considered to be the continuation of style defined by former Republican secretaries of stateHenry Kissingerand James Baker.
After the end of the Bush Administration, Rice returned to academia and joined theCouncil on Foreign Relations.
In October 2010, Rice met with President Obama for a discussion on national security issues.In November, Rice participated in the groundbreaking of theGeorge W. Bush Presidential Center.Two years later, Rice introduced world leaders such asTony BlairandJose Maria Aznarat the center's dedication ceremony.
In May 2011, after thekilling of Osama bin Laden, Rice toldZain Verjeethat 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".That year, she appeared as herself on theNBCsitcom30 Rockin thefifth-seasonepisode "Everything Sunny All the Time Always", in which she engages in a classical-music duel withJack Donaghy(Alec Baldwin). Within the world of the show, Donaghy had had a relationship with Rice during the show's first season.
In May 2012, Rice served as the keynote speaker at theSouthern Methodist Universitycommencement ceremony.Rice delivered a speech at the2012 Republican National Convention.Daniel W. Drezner ofForeign Affairspraised Rice's address as the best speech of the convention.
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 theInternational Atomic Energy Agency"the runaround."In 2015, Rice initially declined taking a public position on theJoint 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."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."
In August 2015,High Point Universityannounced that Rice would speak at the 2016 commencement ceremony.Her commencement address was highlighted byThe Huffington Post,Fortune,Business Insider,NBC News,Time, andUSA Today.
On January 26, 2017, Rice participated in a talk with theUniversity of San Francisco, where she opined that the United States had entered "uncharted territory" with PresidentDonald Trumpdue to his lack of government experience and that the new president should be given time to realize the limitations of his powers.On March 31, Rice met with Vice PresidentMike Penceand President Trump at the White House.In May, Rice said that alleged Russianhacking of DNC emailsshould "absolutely not" delegitimize Trump's presidency.
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.In 2018, Rice called decisions by North Korean leaderKim Jong Unto make overtures to the South Koreans "clever" and expressed that he was more isolated and reckless than his father.Ahead of theSingapore 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."
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."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."
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".In October, Rice appeared as a guest cohost onThe View, where she asserted that Americans were more interested in household issues than continuing to investigate theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack.In December, Rice joinedGovernor of AlabamaKay Iveyin 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.
In April 2022, Rice attended Madeleine Albright's funeral, where she delivered a reading from the Bible.In July, Rice participated in an Aspen Security Forum with fellow former National Security AdvisorsThomas E. DonilonandStephen Hadley.In October, Rice met with Secretary of StateAntony Blinkenat the Hoover Institution Hauck Auditorium and asked the incumbent about issues such as protests in Iran and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, after former President Trump andGovernor of FloridaRon DeSantiscriticized 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."
In February 2009, it was announced that Rice had signed a three-book deal withCrown Publishersworth 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."In 2010, Rice releasedExtraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family, an account of her upbringing.John McWhorterofThe New York Timessummarized, "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."In 2011, Rice wroteNo Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, a memoir of her time in the Bush administration.In an interview withGeorge 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.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."
It was announced in 2013 that Rice was writing a book to be published in 2015 byHenry Holt & Company.
In 2017, Rice releasedDemocracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, a book in which she makes the case for democracy over totalitarianism or authoritarianism.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.
In October 2013, Rice was selected to be one of the thirteen inaugural members of theCollege Football Playoffselection committee.Her appointment caused a minor controversy in the sport.In October 2014, she revealed that she watched "14 or 15 games every week live on TV on Saturdays and recorded games on Sundays."Her term on the committee expired at the conclusion of the2016 college football season.
On November 18, 2018ESPN'sAdam Schefterreported that a league source had told him that Rice was being considered as a candidate in theCleveland Browns' head coach search.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 ManagerJohn Dorseydenied 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."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."
As early as 2003, there were reports that Rice was considering a run forgovernor of California, while ruling out running for the Senate in 2004.There was also speculation that Rice would run for the Republican nomination in the 2008 primaries, which she ruled out onMeet 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."
During an interview with the editorial board ofThe Washington Timeson March 27, 2008, Rice said she was "not interested" in running for vice president.In aGallup pollfrom March 24 to 27, 2008, Rice was mentioned by eight percent of Republican respondents to be their first choice to beJohn McCain's Republican vice presidential running mate, slightly behindMike HuckabeeandMitt Romney.
Republican strategistDan Senorsaid on ABC'sThis Weekon 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 ofGrover Norquist'sAmericans for Tax Reformconservative leader's meeting on March 26, 2008.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."
In August 2008, the speculation about a potential McCain–Rice ticket finally ended when then-GovernorSarah Palinof Alaska was selected as McCain's running-mate.
In early December 2008, Rice praised President-elect Barack Obama's selection of New YorksenatorHillary Clintonto 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".
Rumors arose once again during the2012 presidential racethat presumptive nomineeMitt Romneywas 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."Speculation ended in August 2012 when Romney announced that RepresentativePaul Ryanwas chosen as his running-mate.Rice campaigned for the Romney-Ryan ticket in the general election.
According toBob Woodward's 2018 bookFear: Trump in the White House, then-Republican National CommitteechairmanReince Priebustold then Republican nominee Donald Trump, that he should drop out of the race for the good of the party following the release of theAccess Hollywoodtapes. During these discussions, it was revealed thatMike 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.
While promoting his bookOut of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants, former President Bush revealed he wrote-in Rice in the2020 electionand said that although Rice was aware of the vote, she told him she "would refuse to accept the office."
Condoleezza Rice is often described as acentristormoderate Republican.On The Issues, a non-partisan organization which rates candidates based on their policy positions, considers Rice to be a centrist.She takes both liberal and conservative positions; she ispro-choiceon abortion, supportsgun rights, opposessame-sex marriagebut supportscivil unions, and supports building oil pipelines such as theKeystone XL pipeline.
Rice's policy as Secretary of State viewedcounter-terrorismas 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."
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."
In January 2005, during Bush'ssecond 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 describeIraq, Iran andNorth Korea. She identified six such "outposts" in which she said the United States has a duty to foster freedom: Cuba,Zimbabwe, Burma andBelarus, as well as Iran and North Korea.
Rice said "If you go back to 2000 when I helped the president in the campaign. I said that I was, in effect, kind oflibertarianon 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."She would not want the federal government "forcing its views on one side or the other."She did not want the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion,Roe v. Wade, to be overturned.
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.
Rice has taken a centrist approach to "race and gender preferences" inaffirmative actionpolicies.She described affirmative action as being "still needed," but she does not support quotas.
In March 2014, Rice joined and appeared in video spots for theBan Bossycampaign, 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 includingBeyoncé,Jennifer Garnerand 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.
Condoleezza Rice supported thecomprehensive immigrationplan backed by the Bush administration and shared that it was among her regrets that it did not pass through Congress.In 2014, Rice criticized the Obama administration from seeking to approve immigration reforms through executive action.In February 2017 Rice publicly announced her opposition to the Trump administration'stravel ban.
Rice says that she became a "Second Amendment absolutist" due to her experience of growing up in Birmingham and facing threats from the KKK."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."
While Rice does not support same-sex marriage, she does supportcivil 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."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."
In May 2017, Rice said she opposes theremoval of Confederate monuments and memorialsor the renaming of buildings named after Confederate generals.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."
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 subject herself to the indignity of "colored" facilities in town. As Rice recalls, "they refused to allow the limits and injustices of their time to limit our horizons."
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.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 ofJim Crow lawsin Birmingham. A neighbor, Juliemma Smith, described how "[Condi] used to call me and say things like, 'Did you see whatBull Connordid 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."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."
During the violent days of theCivil 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.
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."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.
Rice was eight when her schoolmate Denise McNair, aged 11, was murdered in the bombing of the primarily blackSixteenth Street Baptist Churchbywhite supremacistson September 15, 1963.Rice has commented upon that moment in her life:
Rice has appeared four times on theTime 100,Timemagazine'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, andTimehas 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."In its March 19, 2007, issue it followed up stating that Rice was "executing an unmistakable course correction in U.S. foreign policy."
In 2004 and 2005, she was ranked as the most powerful woman in the world byForbesmagazine and number two in 2006 (following thechancellor of Germany,Angela Merkel).
CaliforniaDemocratic senatorBarbara Boxerhas also criticized Rice in relation to thewar 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."
On January 11, 2007, Boxer, during a debate over thewar 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."
TheNew York PostandWhite House press secretaryTony Snowcalled 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."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."
According toThe Washington Postin late July 2008, former undersecretary of state and U.N. ambassadorJohn R. Boltonwas 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."
Formersecretary of defenseDonald Rumsfeldrepeatedly criticized Rice after their terms in office ended. In his bookKnown and Unknown: A Memoir, he portrayed her as a young, inexperienced academic who did not know her place.In 2011, she responded, saying that Rumsfeld "doesn't know what he's talking about."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 theNSC, but for some reason Don interpreted such actions as a violation of his authority."
In his bookIn My Time,Dick Cheneysuggested 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."
Rice has also been criticized by other conservatives. Stephen Hayes of theWeekly Standardaccused her of jettisoning theBush Doctrine, including theIraq War troop surge of 2007.Other conservatives criticized her for her approach to Russia policy and other issues.
Rice's ratings decreased following a heated battle for her confirmation as Secretary of State and followingHurricane Katrinain August 2005. Rice's rise within theGeorge W. Bush administrationinitially 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.As her role increased, some black commentators began to express doubts concerning Rice's stances and statements on various issues. In 2005,The Washington PostcolumnistEugene Robinsonasked, "How did [Rice] come to a worldview so radically different from that of most black Americans?"
In August 2005, American musician, actor, andsocial activistHarry Belafonte, who served on the Board of TransAfrica, referred to blacks in the Bush administration as "black tyrants." Belafonte's comments received mixed reactions.
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."
Black commentators have defended Rice, includingMike Espy,Andrew Young,C. Delores Tucker(chair of the National Congress of Black Women),Clarence Page,Colbert King,Dorothy Height(chair and president emerita of theNational Council of Negro Women)andKweisi Mfume(Congressman and former CEO of theNAACP).
Rice has never married and has no children.In the 1970s, she dated and was briefly engaged to professional American football playerRick Upchurchbut left him because, according to biographer Marcus Mabry, she "knew the relationship wasn't going to work."
Rice's mother, Angelena Rice, died of breast cancer in 1985, aged 61, when Rice was 30.In 1989, Rice's father, John Wesley Rice, wed Clara Bailey,to whom he remained married until his death in  2000, aged 77.
From 2003 to 2017, Rice co-owned a house inPalo Alto, Californiawith Randy Bean. According to public records, the two initially bought the house with a third investor, Stanford University professorCoit D. Blacker, who later sold hisline of creditto the two women. The property arrangement was first revealed inGlenn Kessler's bookThe 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."
On August 20, 2012, Rice was one of the first two women to be admitted as members toAugusta National Golf Club; the other wasSouth CarolinafinancierDarla Moore.In 2014, Rice was named to theESPNWImpact 25.Rice has described her faith asPresbyterian, being a noted member ofECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.
At the age of 15, Rice played a Mozart Piano Concerto with theDenver Symphony Orchestra, her prize for winning a student music competition.Until college, she planned to become a professional pianist and still plays with an amateurchamber musicgroup in Washington. She accompaniedcellistYo-Yo Main playingJohannes Brahms'Violin Sonata in D minoratConstitution Hallin April 2002 for theNational Medal of ArtsAwards.
She has performed at diplomatic events at embassies, including a performance forQueen Elizabeth II,and she has performed in public with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and singerAretha Franklin.In 2005, Rice accompaniedCharity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, a 21-year-old soprano, for a benefit concert for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association at the Kennedy Center in Washington.She performed briefly during her cameo appearance in the "Everything Sunny All the Time Always" episode of30 Rock. She has stated that her favorite composer isJohannes Brahms, because she thinks Brahms's music is "passionate but not sentimental."On a complementary note, Rice has revealed on multiple occasions that she enjoys the bandLed Zeppelin,and in a 2009 appearance onThe Tonight ShowwithJay Leno, she stated that it was her favorite band.
As Secretary of State, Rice wasex officioa member of theBoard of Trusteesof theJohn 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.
Rice has received severalhonorary degreesfrom various American universities, including: