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African-American History Month, 2007 

Condoleezza Rice

Also known as: Condi Rice

Birth: November 14, 1954
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: African American
Occupation: National Security Adviser, educator
Source: Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 28. Edited by Ashyia Henderson. Gale Group, 2001.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Born into a family of educators, Condoleezza Rice became an educator, but she did not limit her teaching to a school setting. In the late 1980s, as director of Soviet and East European affairs on the National Security Council, she explained world events to the president of the United States; in the early 1990s, she was elected to the board of directors of several multi-national corporations. Rice taught political science at Stanford University, and is considered a leading expert on Soviet and East European politics and military affairs. She has been called upon by many in public office and private business to put her academic knowledge to practical use. Those who rely on her expertise include President George W. Bush, whom Rice has served as National Security Advisor and then as Secretary of State.

Rice grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. She traced her interest in political science to her parents' preoccupation with politics and the political discussions held at home. Academic achievement was also important to her from the beginning. Her parents taught her she could, as she told Ebony, "do and be whatever I wanted," and she succeeded at a variety of activities from an early age. Her mother gave her piano lessons; she was playing Bach and Beethoven almost before her feet reached the pedals. She studied figure skating. She took the most challenging classes at school and excelled.

Entering the University of Denver at the age of fifteen, Rice first majored in piano performance but switched to political science when she realized she would never be a great pianist. She graduated magna cum laude when she was nineteen. She then when on to receive her master's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1975, later returning to Denver for her doctorate in international studies.

In 1981 Rice started teaching political science at Stanford University and gradually became well known for her expertise in Soviet affairs. In 1984 she won a teaching award at Stanford. She was a fellow at the Hoover Institute, an internationally-known think tank at Stanford, during the 1985-86 academic year. Her books The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army: 1948-1983 and The Gorbachev Era were published in 1985 and 1986, respectively. In 1987 she served as an advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on strategic nuclear policy and briefed air force generals on strategy and force posture in the Soviet military. The following year, at the invitation of the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, she traveled to Bulgaria to speak to Soviet officials and diplomats on arms-control policy.

At the personal request of Brent Scowcroft, assistant to the president for national security affairs, Rice was named director of Soviet and East European affairs on the National Security Council in 1989. In this capacity she analyzed and explained to President George Bush the events of international importance occurring in the region. She helped Bush prepare for and participate in his super-power summit meetings with then-Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and other top officials in Malta, Washington, D.C., Paris, and Helsinki, Finland. In Malta, she sat at the bargaining table with Bush and Secretary of State James Baker. At the 1990 summit in Washington, D.C., she provided background and analysis in daily meetings and was one of only a handful of senior aides who attended exclusive evening dinner meetings.

In 1991 Rice left Washington to return to the academic life at Stanford University in California, but during the 1990s her expertise was still sought and her presence felt by many. After Senator Pete Wilson was elected governor of California in 1990, her name was circulated as his possible replacement in Congress; she had been asked to run for Congress before but had declined. Rice continued to publish her scholarly work and also wrote editorials for magazines such as Time and newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, which frequently sought her opinion and commentary on foreign affairs.

In 1991, the 37-year-old Rice was appointed by Governor Wilson to a bipartisan committee to draw new state legislative and congressional districts in California. She was the youngest member chosen, and among her colleagues on the committee were several retired state justices, including a 75-year-old former supreme court justice. Wilson told the Los Angeles Times, "All [members] have certain attributes in common. All are distinguished scholars. All are leaders in their fields, known for impartiality and devoted to the truth." Others agreed with Wilson's assessment of Rice's achievements. In May of 1991, Chevron elected her to their 12-member board of directors, and in October of 1991, Transamerica Corporation did the same. She was also named as provost of Stanford and co-authored a book on the reunification of Germany.

An unfortunate public incident in 1990 brought Rice more public attention than her position as director on the National Security Council. At the San Francisco airport where she was accompanying a party of Soviet officials--wearing the appropriate White House identification--a secret-service agent ordered her to stand behind the security lines. When she tried to explain that she was with the group, he shoved her.

After many years in academia, Rice was asked to help George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. When he was elected, he named her as his National Security Advisor. Both she and Colin Powell made history as the first African Americans named as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, respectively. Rice was also the first woman named to the post.

Prior to joining Bush's team Rice had avoided the spotlight as much as possible, but particularly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the beginning of the war in Iraq, she became an increasingly visible spokesperson for Bush's foreign policy. In that role Rice frequently drew criticism from the many opponents of that policy, but she handled such attacks with her trademark calm, without ever abandoning her loyalty to the president. This loyalty was rewarded in 2004, when Colin Powell resigned as Secretary of State and Bush nominated Rice for the job. Although Rice's confirmation hearings provided another platform for her critics among Senate Democrats to castigate her for the administration's record, in the end she was confirmed by a vote of 85 to 13.

In the State Department, Rice maintained her uniquely close bond with the president – a relationship that made her one of the most powerful secretaries of state in years. That was seen as a positive when, for instance, she was finally able to secure White House approval for a diplomatic parlay with North Korea in August of 2005. On the other hand, many questioned whether she had made any real progress in Iraq and wondered if her unequivocal embrace of the Bush party line, especially the “transformational democracy” that was touted as the best way to root out terrorism, had not hampered her judgment. It was too early to tell how Rice would ultimately fare in her new position, but, having traveled more than any other secretary of state in the first six months, it was clear that she was working hard at it.

As the first black woman to hold her post in an area still very much dominated by white males, Rice has also endured her share of sexism. She sometimes counters sexist remarks by referring to other powerful women. "Haven't they heard of [former prime minister of England] Margaret Thatcher, [former prime minister of India] Indira Gandhi, or Cleopatra [the Queen of Egypt] for that matter?," she mused in Jet. She told Ebony that sexism "usually comes in the line of 'How'd you end up doing this?'" Her most successful weapon against the racism and sexism she has encountered is her own intelligence and ability.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Born on November 14, 1954; raised in Birmingham, AL; daughter of John Wesley and Angelena Ray Rice. Education: University of Denver, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1974, Ph.D., 1981; University of Notre Dame, M.A., 1975. Politics: Republican. Memberships: Member of board of directors of Chevron and Transamerica Corporation. Addresses: Office--U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520.

AWARDS

Award for excellence in teaching, Stanford University, 1984; fellow of the Hoover Institute, 1985-86; Ford Foundation fellow; fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations; Named one of the most powerful women in the world, Forbes, 2005.

CAREER

U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, intern, 1977; Rand Corporation, intern, 1980; Stanford University, Stanford, CA, assistant professor of political science, 1981-89, associate professor, professor, 1991-93, provost, 1993-99; National Security Council, Washington, DC, director of Soviet and East European Affairs, 1989-91; George W. Bush presidential campaign, national security consultant, 2000; National Security Council, national security adviser, 2001-2005; Secretary of State, 2005--.