Condoleezza Rice: Powerful Leader

Joy Martin

Born November 14, 1954, Condoleezza Rice is the only child of John and Angelena Rice. Condoleezza was taught from birth that nothing was impossible; through education and hard work, one could achieve anything. As a result of this upbringing, Condoleezza Rice has proven her steadfast resolve and superior leadership skills as an education scholar, high-profile political figure, and a business advisor.
Condoleezza’s education un-officially began at age 3. At age 3, in 1958, Angelena Rice walked her daughter, Condoleezza, to 1st grade class at Fairfield Elementary. Condoleezza refused to stay in class. This event happened repeatedly until Condoleezza told her parents that she did not want to go back to that class. Condoleezza’s parents finally abandoned this attempt at really early childhood education (Rice, 2010, p. 6). Condoleezza’s parents were convinced that “education was a kind of armor shielding me against everything-even the deep racism in Birmingham and across America” (Rice, 2010, p. 6).
Condoleezza’s education was diverse and accelerated. At age 13, Condoleezza had her political awakening due to the assassination of Dr. King, the Tet Offensive, and Vietnam images (Rice, 2010, p. 121). At St. Mary’s High School, Condoleezza took the PSAT. The counselor called Condoleezza into review the results. “You didn’t do very well,” the counselor stated, “Perhaps you should consider junior college” (Rice, 2010, p. 138). Condoleezza laughed at the counselor and thanked her for her advice. This event could have led Condoleezza down a different path; however, due to her sense of self, developed through years of parental affirmation, Condoleezza knew that she would succeed.
At age 15, Condoleezza entered the University of Denver. By Condoleezza’s junior year at Denver University, she had changed her major three times. Condoleezza took a course on International politics and loved the stories, told by Professor Korbel, about the work of diplomats. Professor Korbel was a specialist on the Soviet Union and Condoleezza decided that she wanted to be a Soviet specialist and study international politics (Rice, 2010, p. 164). This decision started Condoleezza’s professional and political career path. Condoleezza ultimately graduated with a PhD from Denver University.
As a result of an affirmative action hire, Condoleezza received a tenure-line appointment at Stanford University. At the end of the 1985 school year, Condoleezza received the university’s highest honor, the Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. Condoleezza continued her Stanford career as a tenured associate professor and then in 1993 began six-year tenure as provost. During her provost tenure, Condoleezza was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and an academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students (Hoover Institution, 2012). Condoleezza stated in an interview (Nally, 2009), “If it ever becomes the case that I can’t stand in front of a class at Stanford, as I do now, and see in one chair an itinerant farm worker’s child sitting side by side with a fourth-generation Stanford legatee, we will have lost the core of who we are.” The legacy of Condoleezza’s provost tenure was one of mixed review. Many considered her a powerful administrator who cares about students; many colleagues thought she lead by a clear and unapologetic style (Rice, 2010, p. 280).
Condoleezza broke many barriers. One was her visiting professorship at the National Defense Academy of Japan. This academy had never had a female teacher, much less had a female on the grounds of the academy.
In 1986, Condoleezza served as an assistant the Joint Chiefs of Staff on nuclear strategy, and during the administration of President George H. W. Bush she was director for Soviet and eastern European affairs for the National Security Council (NSC) and a special assistant to the president (Encyclopedia Britannica). Condoleezza stated in her memoir, “George H. W. Bush is simply one of the nicest and most self-effacing people that I’ve ever met. He taught me so much about leading people. Countless times he would send a congratulatory note to a foreign leader for a seemingly innocuous achievement. I came to understand that he was building a relationship, which would serve him well when he needed to ask that leader to do something hard” (Rice, 2010, p. 241). This is truly a valuable lesson in leadership qualities for us all. Condoleezza Rice became the first woman to hold the title of Head of the National Security Council. President George W. Bush made the appointment in 2001. Condoleezza soon earned the nickname of “Warrior Princess”, reflecting strong nerve and delicate manners (Bumiller, 2007, p. 134). Condoleezza’s resolve and leadership came into question by many people because of the warnings of terrorist’s attacks by Richard Clarke. However, Condoleezza fiercely denies ignoring terrorist’s threats. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Condoleezza proved to be an important and influential adviser to President Bush. Condoleezza supported the U.S. led attacks on terrorist and Taliban targets in Afghanistan and aligned herself with hard-liners who advocated the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (Encyclopedia Britannica). Condoleezza Rice succeeded Colin Powell as Secretary of State in 2005. Condoleezza became the first African American woman to hold the Secretary of State position. Once again, Condoleezza Rice broke another barrier. As Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice helped negotiate an end to Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip (Encyclopedia Britannica). Condoleezza also persuaded North Korea to return to talks aimed at dismantling that country’s nuclear weapons program (Encyclopedia Britannica). Condoleezza was involved in many more decision making events and it became clear when she left political office in 2009, she had become a true political leader. Condoleezza is currently the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Graduate School of Business; the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution; and a professor of political science at Stanford University (Hoover Institution, 2012). Condoleezza currently serves on the board of KiOR, a renewable fuels company, C3, an energy software company, and Makena Capital, a private endowment firm (Hoover Institution, 2012). As stated by Condoleezza in a speech at Georgia Southern University, “When there is a lot of change around you and things are difficult, go back to your values. I think integrity is the most important value in leadership. One of the tests of integrity is to ask yourself if you’re asking someone to do something you wouldn’t do.” This motto was practiced everyday by Condoleezza and proves that not only was she a good leader, she was a good person.

References

Bumiller, E. (2007). Condoleezza Rice: An American life. New York: Random House, Inc.
Condoleezza Rice. (2012). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/862039/Condoleezza-Rice Hoover Institution. (2012). Condoleezza Rice. Retrieved July 2, 2012 from website: www.hoover.org;fellows/10078.
Nally, D. (2009). Courageous leadership. Retrieved July 3, 2012 from website: www.pwc.com.
Rice, C. (2010). Condoleezza Rice: a memoir of my extraordinary, ordinary family and me. New York: Crown publishing.