When George W. Bush took office in January of , Rice became his National Security Advisor, the first woman of any color to occupy that position. Rice credits her parents for instilling in her the notion that there were no real limits on what she could do with her life—if she could dream it, she could do it. Although she grew up in the segregated South, she and her siblings were taught that they could achieve anything if they believed in themselves.
She told Ebony, "Our parents really did have us convinced that [even though I] couldn't have a hamburger at Woolworth's, [I] could be president of the United States. Rice's parents, John and Angelena, both of whom were educators, made sure that Condoleezza received a well-rounded education to prepare her for whatever she chose to do in life. Her mother taught her to play the piano at an early age, she studied figure skating, and was encouraged to take the most challenging courses in school.
As a girl, her first love was music, and—thanks to her mother's lessons—she was playing Bach and Beethoven even before her feet could reach the piano's pedals. Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, a city torn apart by racial tensions in the s, was an important lesson for Rice. Although her parents tried their best to insulate her from some of the more virulent hatred at large in that city, even their best efforts could not shut out reality completely.
Among the victims of the bombing of a black church in the city was one of Rice's kindergarten classmates. Although her parents successfully shielded her from some of the uglier aspects of racism, she did not escape unscathed. She told Ebony of one eye-opening incident from her high school years. She was told by a guidance counselor that she wasn't college material, despite her consistently high grades in college preparatory courses. I remember thinking that the odd thing about it was that [the counselor] had not bothered to check my record.
I was a straight-A student in all advanced courses. I was excelling in Latin. I was a figure skater and a piano student. That none of that occurred to her I think was a subtle form of racism. It was the problem of low expectations [for African Americans]. In her early teens, the family moved to Denver.
A brilliant student, Rice began taking college courses while still in high school and formally entered the University of Denver at the age of 15 to study piano performance.
However, before long, she had to acknowledge that she didn't possess the right combination of talents to succeed as a pianist, so she went in search of another major. The answer came in a classroom presided over by Josef Korbel, the father of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. A lecture by Korbel on Josef Stalin mesmerized Rice. Fascinated by the intrigues and complexities of Soviet politics, she decided on the spot to major in political science.
At the age of 19 she graduated from college magna cum laude. At the University of Notre Dame, Rice earned her master's degree in political science, after which she returned to Denver to pursue her doctorate in international affairs. Bush , becoming the first African American woman and woman to hold the post, and went on to become the first Black woman to serve as U.
Secretary of State. Rice was born on November 14, , in Birmingham, Alabama. The only child of a Presbyterian minister and a teacher, Rice grew up surrounded by racism in the segregated South. She earned her bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Denver in , her master's from the University of Notre Dame in , and her Ph.
That same year, she joined Stanford University as a political science professor. In , Rice became the first woman and first African American to serve as provost of Stanford University — a post she held for six years. During that time, she also served as the university's chief budget and academic officer. In the mids, Rice spent a period in Washington, D. Bush during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification.
A few years later, in , Rice was appointed national security adviser by President George W. Bush , becoming the first African American woman and woman to hold the post. She went on to become the first African American woman to serve as U. Secretary of State — she became the nation's 66th Secretary of State in , following Colin Powell 's resignation, and served from to Bush , and succeeded Colin Powell as Secretary of State in As Secretary of State, Rice supported the expansion of democratic governments, and championed the idea of "Transformational Diplomacy," which sought to redistribute U.
Rice helped successfully negotiate several agreements in the Middle East, including Israeli withdrawal from and the opening of the Gaza border crossings in and the August 14, ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
Rice organized the Annapolis Conference of November 27, , which focused on finding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Rice also worked actively to improve human rights issues in Iran and supported the passage of a United Nations Security Council Resolution for sanctions against the country unless its uranium enrichment program was curtailed.
Another major concern for Rice was North Korea's nuclear program, and its subsequent testing of a nuclear weapon.
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