Condoleezza Rice was confirmed as US Secretary of State on 26 January 2005, becoming the first Black woman to hold the post and only the second woman ever appointed to the role. She succeeded Colin Powell, having served President George W. Bush as national security adviser since 2001.
Rice, 50, enters the position with a reputation for composure, intellectual sharpness, and unusually close access to the president. Her mentor, former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, who first recruited her into government as a Soviet specialist, described her as "incredibly smart and very, very charming."
Her confirmation drew fierce opposition from Senate Democrats, who accused her of misleading the public about the scope of the Iraqi threat used to justify the 2003 invasion. In her hearings she conceded that errors had been made in the war on terror and that US forces entered Iraq without adequate preparation for post-war reconstruction.
Rice was raised in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of a music teacher and a school principal who also served as a pastor. A childhood friend was among four girls killed in the 1963 Ku Klux Klan church bombing in Alabama. She graduated university at 19, later earned a doctorate, and in 1993 became Stanford's youngest provost as well as the first woman and first minority to hold the position.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.