Condoleezza Rice: A Woman like No Other

Condoleezza Rice: A Woman Like No Other

“I lived in a place where you couldn’t go have a hamburger at a restaurant, but my parents were telling me I could be president,” says one of the most powerful and prominent leaders in today’s society (www.nicholaskralev.com). As a former international studies scholar and a Stanford University provost, and now President Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice has drawn both fire and praise for her extraordinary mixture of Southern charm, intellectual tenacity, and no-nonsense leadership.

Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, Condoleezza Rice, also known as “Condi”, lived during the time when the town became the epicenter of the civil rights movement (www.nicholaskralev.com). Her name was inspired by the Italian musical notation con dolcezza, meaning to play “with sweetness.” John, her father, pastured Westminster Presbyterian Church and was dean of the historically black Stillman College. Angelena, her mother, taught music and science at an all-black school. Both saw to it that their daughter had the best things in life; a rare family pedigree, a devout faith, and a strong sense of self-worth. Rice claims her childhood during segregations taught her determination against adversity, and the need to be twice as good as non-minorities (http://en.wikipedia.org).

As the only child of educators, the importance of learning was impressed upon Rice from day one. She learned to read when most children were still struggling to walk and by the age of three had begun lessons in a wide range of areas such as classical piano,

figure skating, ballet, and French. A talented child, both by heritage and self-motivation, Rice was in eighth grade by age eleven (www.christianitytoday.com). At, fifteen, Condi entered the University of Denver with the aspiration of becoming a concert pianist. But things soon changed as Condi attended a course on international politics taught by Josef Korbel, father of Madeleine Albright. She graduated, at nineteen, cum laude from the University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in political science (www.nicholaskralev.com). She had no idea what she was going to do with the major, but she knew that the job market had to be brighter for political scientists than it was for concert pianists (www.christianitytoday.com). In 1975, she got her master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and her Ph. D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981.

At the tender age of twenty-six, Condi became a Stanford University professor of Political Science and won two of the university’s highest teaching honors. After her teaching career she served as Stanford University’s provost for six years before taking a one year leave of absence (Anderson 208). She immediately began working for George W. Bush’s election campaign in 2000. On December 17, 2000, Rice was picked to serve as National Security Advisor and stepped down from her position at Stanford (http://en.wikipedia.org).

Since her appointment as National Security Advisor, Rice has become a controversial figure. She has captured the African-American community, with some praising her role as the first black National Security