Rice, Condoleezza

Condoleezza Rice is an academic and government official who was the second woman and the first African American woman to hold the post of U.S. Secretary of State (2005–09). Prior to becoming secretary of State under President George Bush, Rice served as a national security adviser (2001–05). She describes herself as a moderate Republican. Currently, Rice is the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution and professor of political science at Stanford University.

As secretary of state, Rice initiated several innovative policy moves, which included dedicating her department to “Transformational Diplomacy.” This focused on building and sustaining democratic, well-governed states around the world (and the Middle East, in particular). Among the strategies implemented were the relocation of American diplomats to such hardship locations as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Angola. Affected diplomats were required to become fluent in two foreign languages. Rice also created a high-level position to “de-fragment” U.S. foreign aid.

Rice was born November 14, 1954, in Birmingham, Alabama. She was an only child to John and Angelena Rice, both of whom were well educated. They provided their daughter with a comfortable middle-class existence. Although she grew up in a segregated Birmingham during the civil rights movement, Rice had a relatively sheltered childhood. She mastered the piano at 3 and was told that she could have had a career as a concert pianist. She skipped first and seventh grades and entered college at age 15. Intelligence, hard work, and determination propelled her through her childhood. After Rice's mother died in 1985, her father moved to California to be closer to her.

Rice holds three degrees: a bachelor's in political science, having graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Denver in 1974; a master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. She was hired as an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University in 1981 and worked there from 1981 to 1999. From 1993 to 1999, Rice also served as Stanford's provost. She was the first woman and the first African American to hold this position.

As an African American woman, Rice held the highest position in a presidential cabinet, yet she has often been criticized for her inattention to “black issues.” Though she grew up in the segregated South, she was never really directly involved in the civil rights movement. Rice's parents tried to shield her from racial discrimination, but she was still very much aware of the civil rights struggle and the problems of Jim Crow laws in Birmingham. Rice credited the positive attitude of her parents and friends for their influence when she stated, “They refused to allow the limits and injustices of their time to limit our horizons.” Rice also asserted, “My parents had me absolutely convinced that, well, you may not be able to have a hamburger at Wool-worth's but you can be president of the United States.”