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Condoleezza Rice <DIV>
Born: 14-Nov-1954
Birthplace: Birmingham, AL
<DIV>Gender: Female
Religion: Presbyterian
Race or Ethnicity: Black
Occupation: Government
Party Affiliation: Republican <DIV>Nationality: United States
Executive summary: US Secretary of State <DIV>Condoleezza Rice is the second woman to be U.S. Secretary of State, after Madeleine Albright during the Clinton administration. She is the first black woman to be Secretary of State, and the holds the highest position in a presidential cabinet that any black woman has held. Rice describes herself as a moderate Republican, and has never been identified with so-called "black issues", which has led some African-Americans to view her with suspicion. She says she became a Republican when she watched the 1984 Democratic Convention on TV, and decided that the Democrats' appeals to "women, minorities, and the poor" really meant "helpless people and the poor". Rice said, "I decided I'd rather be ignored than patronized". <DIV>Her parents were Jamaican immigrants, and both were college professors. Her unusual first name is derived from the Italian for an opera stage instruction, con dolcezza, meaning "with sweetness". Rice was raised in segregated Birmingham during the civil rights movement. A childhood friend, 11-year-old Denise McNair, was one of the four young girls killed in the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. Rice never became involved in the civil rights movement, but she says, "My parents had me absolutely convinced that, well, you may not be able to have a hamburger at Woolworth's but you can be President of the United States". <DIV>In interviews she sounds perpetually flustered, nervous, and unsure of herself, but Rice is certified smart. She mastered the piano at three, and was told that she could have had a career as a concert pianist. She skipped first and seventh grades, entered college at 15, holds three degrees including a doctorate in political science, and earned her Master's in just one year's study. <DIV>Her area of expertise is the politics of the Soviet Union, which, of course, ceased to exist in 1991. She presumably taught George W. Bush most of what he knows about international affairs, after joining his campaign for President in 1998. <DIV>She was a professor of poly sci at Stanford from 1981-99, and by all accounts she was a popular teacher. From 1993-99 she was Stanford's provost, meaning she was responsible for overseeing the school's budget and academic programs. <DIV>She served as a mid- to upper-level member of the National Security staff during the first Bush preidency, and as National Security Advisor during the second Bush presidency, before becoming Secretary of State. <DIV>She was on the Board of Directors at the Chevron Corporation, where an oil tanker was named in her honor. When this became a point of embarrassment for Rice, spotlighting her links to the oil industry, the Condoleezza Rice was rechristened the Altair Voyager. <DIV>While she was National Security Advisor, she dismissed warnings that Osama bin Laden
Born: 14-Nov-1954Birthplace: Birmingham, AL
<DIV>Gender: Female
Religion: Presbyterian
Race or Ethnicity: Black
Occupation: Government
Party Affiliation: Republican <DIV>Nationality: United States
Executive summary: US Secretary of State <DIV>Condoleezza Rice is the second woman to be U.S. Secretary of State, after Madeleine Albright during the Clinton administration. She is the first black woman to be Secretary of State, and the holds the highest position in a presidential cabinet that any black woman has held. Rice describes herself as a moderate Republican, and has never been identified with so-called "black issues", which has led some African-Americans to view her with suspicion. She says she became a Republican when she watched the 1984 Democratic Convention on TV, and decided that the Democrats' appeals to "women, minorities, and the poor" really meant "helpless people and the poor". Rice said, "I decided I'd rather be ignored than patronized". <DIV>Her parents were Jamaican immigrants, and both were college professors. Her unusual first name is derived from the Italian for an opera stage instruction, con dolcezza, meaning "with sweetness". Rice was raised in segregated Birmingham during the civil rights movement. A childhood friend, 11-year-old Denise McNair, was one of the four young girls killed in the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. Rice never became involved in the civil rights movement, but she says, "My parents had me absolutely convinced that, well, you may not be able to have a hamburger at Woolworth's but you can be President of the United States". <DIV>In interviews she sounds perpetually flustered, nervous, and unsure of herself, but Rice is certified smart. She mastered the piano at three, and was told that she could have had a career as a concert pianist. She skipped first and seventh grades, entered college at 15, holds three degrees including a doctorate in political science, and earned her Master's in just one year's study. <DIV>Her area of expertise is the politics of the Soviet Union, which, of course, ceased to exist in 1991. She presumably taught George W. Bush most of what he knows about international affairs, after joining his campaign for President in 1998. <DIV>She was a professor of poly sci at Stanford from 1981-99, and by all accounts she was a popular teacher. From 1993-99 she was Stanford's provost, meaning she was responsible for overseeing the school's budget and academic programs. <DIV>She served as a mid- to upper-level member of the National Security staff during the first Bush preidency, and as National Security Advisor during the second Bush presidency, before becoming Secretary of State. <DIV>She was on the Board of Directors at the Chevron Corporation, where an oil tanker was named in her honor. When this became a point of embarrassment for Rice, spotlighting her links to the oil industry, the Condoleezza Rice was rechristened the Altair Voyager. <DIV>While she was National Security Advisor, she dismissed warnings that Osama bin Laden
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