Rice, Condoleezza

(born November 14, 1954, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.) American educator and politician, who served as national security adviser (2001––05) and secretary of state (from 2005) to President George W. Bush, the first woman to hold the position.

At age 15 Rice entered the University of Denver. Although she had earlier considered a career as a concert pianist, she turned to the study of international relations, earning a bachelor's degree in the field in 1974. She later obtained a master's degree (1975) in economics from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate (1981) in international studies from the University of Denver, where her specialty was eastern and central Europe and the Soviet Union, including military and security affairs. Rice joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1981. In 1986 she served as an assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on nuclear strategy, and during the administration of President George Bush she was director for Soviet and eastern European affairs for the National Security Council (NSC) and a special assistant to the president. In 1991 Rice returned to Stanford and in 1993 began a six-year tenure as provost, during which time she balanced the university's budget and revamped the curriculum for undergraduates.

In 1999 Rice left Stanford to become foreign policy adviser to the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, and upon his election she was named head of the NSC. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, she proved to be an important and influential adviser to Bush. She supported the U.S.-led attacks on terrorist and Taliban targets in Afghanistan (2001) and aligned herself with hard-liners who advocated the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. When the administration drew criticism for the Second Persian Gulf War (2003) and the handling of terrorist threats prior to September 11, 2001, Rice vigorously defended the president's policy. Bush nominated her for secretary of state in November 2004, after Colin Powell announced that he would not remain as secretary during Bush's second term of office. In 2005 she succeeded Colin Powell as secretary of state, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post.