Condoleezza Rice 1954–

Name ______Class ______Date ______Into the Twenty-First Century Biography Condoleezza Rice 1954–

WHY SHE MADE HISTORY Condoleezza Rice is the first African American woman to serve as United States secretary of state. She is one of the most influential women in the nation.

As you read the biography below, think about the events that influenced Condoleezza Rice. What prepared her to serve as secretary of state?

Even before taking office in 2000, President George W. Bush had chosen his foreign policy team. These people would play a crucial role in shaping the president’s foreign policy. Bush selected Condoleezza Rice as his national security adviser. During his two terms in office, Rice emerged as one of the most powerful women in American government. A descendent of former slaves, Condoleezza “Condi” Rice was born in 1954 in segregated Birmingham, Alabama. Her father was a Presbyterian minister and her mother worked as a schoolteacher. The couple named their only child after the Italian musical term con dolcezza, which translated means to perform “with sweetness.” Facing segregation and discrimination, Rice learned that she could overcome these roadblocks by working and studying harder than those who opposed her. She skipped first grade and seventh grade, and by age 15 she was ready for college. In 1967 Rice’s father accepted a job at the University of Denver and the family moved. Rice enrolled in the University of Denver. She had intended to become a concert pianist, but her plans changed after she attended an international relations class taught by Josef Korbel, the father of former secretary of state Madeleine Albright. Korbel inspired Rice to consider a career in foreign policy. Rice earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1974 from the University of Denver. She received a master’s degree from Notre Dame and completed a Ph.D in International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. Moving farther west, Rice became an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University in California in 1981. She became an associate professor there in 1987, and in 1993, a full professor. She was considered an expert on the Soviet Union and learned to speak Russian

(besides English, French, and Spanish). Over the years she held many positions at the university and won several teaching awards. She ultimately served as provost, one of the highest-ranking positions at Stanford. She was the youngest person and the first non-white person to hold the position. Rice began her political career in 1989. She worked as director of Soviet and East European affairs with the National Security Council. As the Soviet Union began to fall apart, Rice became President George H. W. Bush’s principal adviser on Soviet relations. In these roles she helped create the Bush administration’s policies on the former Soviet Union. When the younger George Bush ran for president in 2000, Rice took a leave of absence from Stanford to work as his foreign policy adviser. Bush appointed her national security adviser shortly after his election, and Rice served in that position through his first term in office. When Colin Powell announced his resignation as secretary of state in 2004, Bush nominated Rice to fill the position. The Senate confirmed her nomination in 2005 by a vote of 85 to 13.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN? 1. Recall What inspired Rice to consider a career in international relations?

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______2. Elaborate How do you think Rice’s experience as a young person in the segregated South influenced her career?

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ACTIVITY Condoleezza Rice helps shape U.S. foreign policy in her role as secretary of state. If you could attend one of her press conferences, what questions would you ask her? Discuss foreign policy issues in the news today. Then brainstorm to create a list of relevant questions.