Condoleezza Rice
Legacy
Legacy
------

[thumb\|Rice greets U.S. military personnel at the American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 15, 2005\.](/wiki/File:Defense.gov_News_Photo_050515-F-0571C-017.jpg "Defense.gov News Photo 050515-F-0571C-017.jpg")
Rice has appeared four times on the [Time 100](/wiki/Time_100 "Time 100"), [*Time* magazine](/wiki/Time_magazine "Time magazine")'s list of the world's 100 most influential people. Rice is one of only nine people in the world whose influence has been considered enduring enough to have made the list—first compiled in 1999 as a retrospective of the 20th century and made an annual feature in 2004—so frequently. However, the list contains people who have the influence to change for better or for worse, and *Time* has also accused her of squandering her influence, stating on February 1, 2007, that her "accomplishments as Secretary of State have been modest, and even those have begun to fade" and that she "has been slow to recognize the extent to which the U.S.'s prestige has declined." In its March 19, 2007, issue it followed up stating that Rice was "executing an unmistakable course correction in U.S. foreign policy."

In 2004 and 2005, she was ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by *[Forbes](/wiki/Forbes "Forbes")* magazine and number two in 2006 (following the [chancellor of Germany](/wiki/Chancellor_of_Germany_%28Federal_Republic%29 "Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic)"), [Angela Merkel](/wiki/Angela_Merkel "Angela Merkel")).

[thumb\|right\|Rice makes an appearance at Boston College, where she is greeted by Father [William Leahy](/wiki/William_P._Leahy "William P. Leahy").](/wiki/File:Rice_at_Boston_College.jpg "Rice at Boston College.jpg")

### Criticism from Senator Barbara Boxer

[California](/wiki/California "California") Democratic senator [Barbara Boxer](/wiki/Barbara_Boxer "Barbara Boxer") has also criticized Rice in relation to the [war in Iraq](/wiki/War_in_Iraq "War in Iraq"). During Rice's confirmation hearing for U.S. secretary of state in January 2005, Boxer stated, "I personally believe—this is my personal view—that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell the war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth."

On January 11, 2007, Boxer, during a debate over the [war in Iraq](/wiki/War_in_Iraq "War in Iraq"), said, "Now, the issue is who pays the price, who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, within immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families, and I just want to bring us back to that fact."

The *[New York Post](/wiki/New_York_Post "New York Post")* and [White House press secretary](/wiki/White_House_Press_Secretary "White House Press Secretary") [Tony Snow](/wiki/Tony_Snow "Tony Snow") called Boxer's statement an attack on Rice's status as a single, childless female and referred to Boxer's comments as "a great leap backward for feminism." Rice later echoed Snow's remarks, saying "I thought it was okay to not have children, and I thought you could still make good decisions on behalf of the country if you were single and didn't have children." Boxer responded to the controversy by saying "They're getting this off on a non\-existent thing that I didn't say. I'm saying, she's like me, we do not have families who are in the military."

### Conservative criticism

According to *[The Washington Post](/wiki/The_Washington_Post "The Washington Post")* in late July 2008, former undersecretary of state and U.N. ambassador [John R. Bolton](/wiki/John_R._Bolton "John R. Bolton") was referring to Rice and her allies in the Bush Administration whom he believes abandoned earlier hard\-line principles when he said: "Once the collapse begins, adversaries have a real opportunity to gain advantage. In terms of the Bush presidency, this many reversals this close to the end destroys credibility ... It appears there is no depth to which this administration will not sink in its last days."

Former [secretary of defense](/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_Defense "United States Secretary of Defense") [Donald Rumsfeld](/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld "Donald Rumsfeld") repeatedly criticized Rice after their terms in office ended. In his book *[Known and Unknown: A Memoir](/wiki/Known_and_Unknown:A_Memoir "A Memoir")*, he portrayed her as a young, inexperienced academic who did not know her place. In 2011 she responded, saying that Rumsfeld "doesn't know what he's talking about." She further addresses the issue in her own book saying, "He would become frustrated when my staff would reach out to military officers in the Pentagon to coordinate the particulars of a policy among the agencies. This was a routine responsibility for the [NSC](/wiki/United_States_National_Security_Council "United States National Security Council"), but for some reason Don interpreted such actions as a violation of his authority."

In his book *In My Time*, [Dick Cheney](/wiki/Dick_Cheney "Dick Cheney") suggested that Rice had misled the president about nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, saying that she was naïve. He called her advice on the issue "utterly misleading." He also chided Rice for clashing with White House advisers on the tone of the president's speeches on Iraq and said that she, as the secretary of state, ruefully conceded to him that the Bush administration should not have apologized for a claim the president made in his 2003 State of the Union address, on Saddam's supposed search for yellowcake uranium. She "came into my office, sat down in the chair next to my desk, and tearfully admitted I had been right," Cheney wrote. Rice responded: "It certainly doesn't sound like me, now, does it?", saying that she viewed the book as an "attack on my integrity."

Rice has also been criticized by other conservatives. Stephen Hayes of the *Weekly Standard* accused her of jettisoning the [Bush Doctrine](/wiki/Bush_Doctrine "Bush Doctrine"), including the [Iraq War troop surge of 2007](/wiki/Iraq_War_troop_surge_of_2007 "Iraq War troop surge of 2007"). Other conservatives criticized her for her approach to Russia policy and other issues.

### Views within the Black American community

[thumb\|right\|Rice's [approval ratings](/wiki/Approval_rating "Approval rating") from January 2005 to September 2006](/wiki/File:RiceRatings.png "RiceRatings.png")

Rice's ratings decreased following a heated battle for her confirmation as Secretary of State and following [Hurricane Katrina](/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina "Hurricane Katrina") in August 2005\. Rice's rise within the [George W. Bush administration](/wiki/George_W._Bush_administration "George W. Bush administration") initially drew a largely positive response from many in the black community. In a 2002 survey, then National Security Advisor Rice was viewed favorably by 41% of black respondents, but another 40% did not know Rice well enough to rate her and her profile remained comparatively obscure. As her role increased, some black commentators began to express doubts concerning Rice's stances and statements on various issues. In 2005, *[The Washington Post](/wiki/The_Washington_Post "The Washington Post")* columnist [Eugene Robinson](/wiki/Eugene_Robinson_%28journalist%29 "Eugene Robinson (journalist)") asked, "How did \[Rice] come to a worldview so radically different from that of most black Americans?"

[thumb\|Rice and Australian Foreign Minister [Alexander Downer](/wiki/Alexander_Downer "Alexander Downer") participate in a news conference at the [Ronald Reagan Presidential Library](/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Presidential_Library "Ronald Reagan Presidential Library") in [Simi Valley](/wiki/Simi_Valley "Simi Valley"), [California](/wiki/California "California"), 2007\.](/wiki/File:Rice_and_Downer_at_the_Reagan_Library_May_23%2C_2007.jpg "Rice and Downer at the Reagan Library May 23, 2007.jpg")

In August 2005, American musician, actor, and [social activist](/wiki/Social_activist "Social activist") [Harry Belafonte](/wiki/Harry_Belafonte "Harry Belafonte"), who served on the Board of TransAfrica, referred to blacks in the Bush administration as "black tyrants." Belafonte's comments received mixed reactions.

Rice dismissed these criticisms during a September 14, 2005 interview when she said, "Why would I worry about something like that? ... The fact of the matter is I've been black all my life. Nobody needs to tell me how to be black."

Black commentators have defended Rice, including [Mike Espy](/wiki/Mike_Espy "Mike Espy"), [Andrew Young](/wiki/Andrew_Young "Andrew Young"), [C. Delores Tucker](/wiki/C._Delores_Tucker "C. Delores Tucker") (chair of the National Congress of Black Women), [Clarence Page](/wiki/Clarence_Page "Clarence Page"), [Colbert King](/wiki/Colbert_King "Colbert King"), [Dorothy Height](/wiki/Dorothy_Height "Dorothy Height") (chair and president emerita of the [National Council of Negro Women](/wiki/National_Council_of_Negro_Women "National Council of Negro Women")) and [Kweisi Mfume](/wiki/Kweisi_Mfume "Kweisi Mfume") (Congressman and former CEO of the [NAACP](/wiki/NAACP "NAACP")).


What role do African Americans play in shaping Rice's worldview?