Dec. 28, 2008
Condoleezza Rice: "I'm Not A Type A"
Outgoing Secretary Of State Shares Thoughts With Sunday Morning
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Condoleezza Rice talks with Rita Braver for CBS' Sunday Morning (CBS)
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She's been called the administration's "warrior princess," the true believer who's visited scores of countries, traveling a million miles to implement, explain, and defend, president George W. Bush's foreign policy. And with less than a month to go as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice still believes in that policy - unmoved and unfazed by low public approval ratings.
"It's not a popularity contest," Rice says. "It is to lay a foundation for where all this will come out. I know that your business is report today's headlines and I respect that. But my business is to lay a foundation for history's judgment."
And Rice still insists - adamantly, ardently - that the central decision that defines this administration was the right one.
"In his latest book Bob Woodward quotes you saying, 'we should've liberated Iraq, I'd do it a thousand times again.' Would you really?" Braver asked.
"Absolutely. Because I know that the Middle East with Saddam Hussein in its center was never gonna be a Middle East that was going to change in a way that will sustain American interests, values and security."
Rice has been a key player in the Bush Administration for eight years. She was national security advisor in the first term and has proven herself a survivor - even after disagreements with Vice President dick Cheney on a number of issues. She clashed with Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld too over management of the Iraq War. He's now gone.
"Well, look I've not won every very internal debate," Rice says, "but one thing that you have to understand is they are debates. They're not fights to the death between people. They are, they're debates."
"You and Secretary Rumsfeld never had shouting matches or anything like that?" Braver asked.
"Oh, I won't say that," Rice says. "But we were all nice friends afterwards, because, people who get to these positions obviously are very tough minded and can advocate very strongly for what they believe."
Of course it always helped rice to have a certain fan-in chief - President Bush.
"You and the president have both described your relationship as almost family - brother and sister and cousin - like that… What do you think that the public doesn't know about him - what don't we understand?" Braver asked.
"I think how much he gets into the detail," Rice said. "I have seen many an aide and myself I've been in that position or a cabinet secretary, go in with a very fine presentation and the president just takes it apart. People would be amazed."
"But when people say, 'he's one of the worst presidents in recent memory, if nothing else…" Braver said.
"I just, I just think it's ridiculous," Rice said.
"Don't you have to think that this last presidential election was kind of a referendum on this president's policies?" Braver asked.
This president had two terms; that's all he gets is two terms and he had two terms and he was reelected," Rice said.
"And you think he would've been re-elected with those popularity polls?" Braver asked.
"I'm not going to talk about popularity polls," Rice said. "The present was re-elected in 2004. That's all he got to do."
And as for his successor…
"There is a widely held belief in Washington, anyway, that you voted for Barack Obama," Braver said.
"And as secretary of state, I'm going to keep my partisan or non-partisan views to myself on that," Rice said. "But I think all Americans were taken with the fact that we were able, after the long history that we've been through, that initial birth defect of slavery that we elected an African American."
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Rice, who grew up in Alabama and has bitter memories of segregation, reminded Braver that, ironically, we were talking in the State Department's Thomas Jefferson room - named after the nation's first Secretary of State - a slave holder.I think we have managed to keep the country safe.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice"And I sometimes wonder what he would have thought…' Rice said.
"Thought of you as secretary of state," Braver said.
"That's right," Rice replied.
"There are a lot of pictures of white guys here…all white guys," Braver noted.
"Yes, but it's broken down, it's been a long time now. There was Madeline Albright and Colin Powell and me and now it'll be Hillary Clinton," Rice said. "It will have been along time since there was a white male Secretary of State so maybe Jefferson would have kind of liked that deep down."
As Secretary of State, Rice has been the closest thing the Bush Administration has to a rock star. It's a role she seems a bit ambivalent about. A few years back, she set fashion columnists atwitter when she wore an outfit while visiting troops in Wiesbaden.
"When you go out there and you hear troops cheering…and…whistling…you gotta get a kick out of that?" Braver asked.
"Yeah, but I wore the boots because it was cold," Rice said. "I tried so hard to explain to people that that outfit…was ..it was really a surprise to me that there was any commentary about it."
Rice's parents, both educators, raised her to be perfectly proper - making sure she was schooled not just in academics but also in manners and deportment. Her discipline is legendary: she starts each day with exercise.
"At 4:30 in the morning?" Braver asked.
"Well, maybe 5:30 when I'm abroad because the truth of the matter is, most people won't start meetings abroad quite as early as we start them here in Washington," Rice said.
She does insist that her work ethic has its limits.
"I'm not a type 'A' person," Rice said. "I love to have time with my family and friends. I love to watch football. I love to play golf. I love to play the piano."
"You ever just like... sleep in and not get of bed and not make the bed and do all that kind of stuff?' Braver asked.
"No! That's where I draw the line!" Rice laughed.
As for her single status…
"I always say, the fact of the matter is you don't want to get married in the abstract, you want to get married to someone. And I've just not found that person that I want to get married to," Rice said.
One thing she has always made time for is music. She once studied to be a concert pianist and earlier this month played for Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.
Was she nervous playing for the Queen?
"Well, not so much," Rice said. "I'm pretty lucky in that, in playing the piano, unless I'm ill prepared, I tend not to get too nervous."
Anyone who's ever studied Rice knows she is rarely ill-prepared or nervous; still, her handling of foreign policy - from the Middle East to Russia and North Korea - has drawn plenty of criticism.
"Do you get angry, do you get sad or do you just not pay attention?" Braver asked.
"I really don't care, Rita. Look, if you're in this business, and you're not being criticized, you're not doing something right," Rice said, "Because somebody is not gong to like, there's always someone who won't like people who make tough choices."
Of course, Secretary Rice knows that in just a few weeks her tough choices will be personal rather than policy.
Is she going to miss this?
"You only get to have these rooms for a short period of time, you don't own them," Rice said. "So no, I will certainly miss a lot about being Secretary of State, but, there are a few things I'd like to move on to do too."
Rice plans to return to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and to write a book about her parents and one about foreign policy - no doubt trying to reinforce her version of what the Bush Administration stands for.
"I think we have managed to keep the country safe," Rice said. "I think we've stood for freedom and liberty as something that every man, woman and child should enjoy. And I think we've built a lot of very good relationships around the world that are serving us very well in some of the most difficult challenges of all time."
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See all 90 CommentsI hope that Hillary can get it done because we''ve got lot of catching up to do around the globe. The top guy will give clear direction and demand results (not a show).
Condi is more a type "F"; a shamelessly loyal, but totally incompetent, "F"lunky...
Neocon Bush Lying War Profiteering Scumbag.
She, like all in the Bush clan, is so deep in denial and so isolated from reality I wouldn''t trust her to detail my car, let alone make important foreign policy decisions. She can''t be gone soon enough.
Nothing they say or do can change that fact.
For those of you sooo disgusted with the outgoing administration...you always have the option to leave. As an American citizen you have that right...be thankful for that and stop complaining.
Now let''s get to the interviewe:
Regarding the question about who won the "debate" on the Iraq war, the interviewer asked, "You and Secretary Rumsfeld never had a shouting match or anything like that ... ? It is impossible to have a highly effective team of intelligent, passionate, opinionated individuals and not have shouting matches.
Also, Bush''s legacy will not be determined by how the public feels today ... this has never been true. We, and that includes me, are much too close to the situation. It must be judged dispassionately by those who have uncovered all of the facts; decades from now.
Finally, for the interviewer to mention that Jefferson was a slave holder was ridiculous. Anyone of intelligence knows that at the time that Jefferson lived, a person of his stature, living in Virginia, was expected to have slaves. If he were alive today he would be expected to have a housekeeper, cook, and driver %u2026 at the very least. There is no difference. To try and put today%u2019s values on people living centuries ago is a worthless activity %u2026 the comment shouldn%u2019t have been made and did not belong in the interview.
Well that sums up why we REALLY went to war with a country that didn''t attack us.
How can someone not understand that going into another country just because their interests don''t sustain American interests is completely wrong?
Country A does not have the right to attack Country B just because Country B is in the way of Country A''s ability to make money or doesn''t have the same values.
Had McCain chosen her instead of the Beauty Queen bimbo Palin as his running mate, McCain would have handily won the election.
Starting her career as a corporate adviser to Bush and ending as the Secretary of State speaks volumes about this person.
You liberals are a hoot! You deny a women with her credentials and background but you want to put Caroline Kennedy in the senate. Chronic Hypocrites all! I was reading her resume for the senate, it''s an empty sheet of paper. We can only hope her uncle Teddy did not teach her how to drive.
Posted by txgrouch2008 at 03:41 PM : Dec 28, 2008
Sure but was it worth 4200 Dead Americans and $3 trillion taxpayers money?
And why stop at this dictator? Who not remove the rest of them in N Korea, Sudan, Zimbabwe?
Yeah we know why!
The Iraq war was all about Halliburton and Israel.
They''re the only ones who benefited.
The rest of us just got screwed.
Posted by HpyAm at 03:22 PM : Dec 28, 2008
Oh, brother - the moronic ''if you''re critical of the Bush administration you should just shut up or leave the country'' argument.
Listen Jack, I''m sorry our critizisms of Bush hurt your feelings, but as Americans is it our right - perhaps even our DUTY - to demand the highest standards of our elected officials. Part of that is speaking out against their policies. Silence means approval and I do NOT approve of what the Bush administration has done. You don''t like it? Plug your ears or shut your eyes. But don''t you friggin'' DARE try and silence me.
You used OPM and now the Other People you used has nothing, we all broke. Thus you and the Georgie Porkie ruined not only bankrupt the country, you bankrupt use. Fly away you "type Axxxhole".
God Bye and Good Ridden you moron, type ***.
Oh, I forgot, she played piano for the queen.
Posted by redhawk1021
Make sure you remember to do that after Jan 20!
Oh, I forgot, she played piano for the queen.
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Posted by PVperson
I''ve presented that challenge on these sites before. NOT ONE republican will respond. Why? She hasn''t accomplished anything, that''s why.
Actually I don''t remember Korea flagrantly braking the truce put in place 1n 1953. Saddam, on the other hand, rubbed our noses in the truce he signed in 1991.
Of course we wont hear about any of that from Hillary Clintoon, we won''t hear any of that from CBS and we shure as helll, wont hear any of that from liberals like you!!
I wonder how many truly good works could be accomplished if people of differing viewpoints could stay focused on their common beliefs instead of developing a contrarian attitude and refusing to do anything to resolve a problem, and move on to the next one.
Rather than living in the past, I am going to try to support the new administration (Lordy, I hope he don''t bring his worthless friends from Chicago!) in the worthwhile endeavors he has spoken of. I will argue against (persuasively, I hope) unproductive endeavors.
The following sites will require you to register and keep your language suitable for expressing constructive dialog.
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml will take you to a page where you can contact Your elected officials
http://change.gov/page/content/contact/ will take you to President-elect Obama''s transition team
Ms. Rice, I thank you for trying. I certainly would consider your qualifications should you choose to campaign for a public office.
But, hey!, what do I know? I''m just a janitor who has plenty of time to watch folks acting naturally.
Gotta go. Just one of over 47 million voters proud to say "I voted for A real hero, John McCain" !
"Absolutely. Because I know that the Middle East with Saddam Hussein in its center was never gonna be a Middle East that was going to change in a way that will sustain American interests, values and security."
Hussein was a dictator. So are dozens of other heads of states. It is not a country''s mission to serve American interests, just as Americans don''t serve other countries interests. It says a lot about Rice and Bush''s policies that this reason is a valid justification to them to invade a country and impose their rules. America is not the center of the world. Bush doesn''t know it, but there are other cultures. We won''t be the most powerful nation much longer, and we will have to leave narcissistic infancy and acknowledge the existence of other, accept (and hopefully appreciate) difference.
If you have something constructive to say......here ya go!
http://change.gov/page/content/contact/
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
I won''t say that your comment that inspired me to write this is worthless...it CAN be used as a bad example!
I notice YOU didn''t come up with something she''s accomplished, what''s the matter, your idol falling short?
She looks like a jackass now who was just brown nosing
the boss. Brown nosing Bush is all she was good for.
Colin Powell is the only one who doubted
that there were WMD. I think he was manipulared
by Bush into making the B.S U.N. speech about WMD.
He latter said he considers that the low point of his career.
NAME ONE THING RICE ACCOMPLISHED!!
JUST ONE!!
I agree with Secretary Rice that the President has brought sound principles and good intentions to the job and that these principles will stand the test of time. The problem with our current President is not a lack of sound principles, but rather a lack of effectiveness and timing for implementation.
Secretary Rice ignores the most important aspect of he President''s authority and America''s global leadership. The former is subject to the approval of 300 million American citizens and the later is subject to the moral support of a global citizenry 23 times this constituency. Without approval domestically and moral support globally, no President of the United States can effectively administer today. Public opinion (both domestic and global) is the basis of representative authority. Although difficult and unpopular decisions are sometimes required, it is dangerous for President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, or Secretary Rice to marginalize or to dismiss this public opinion in such a cavalier manner.
A simple definition of a successful American President: One who protects our safety and our national interest, while also maintaining majority approval ratings and global support (yes - as measured by the polls).
The President is responsible for the policy and the implementation. Secretary Rice''s lack of significant accomplishment is a reflection of the limitations imposed upon her by the President.
The framers of the constution would turn over in their if they knew the state of this nation.
If the citiens rose up to restore America to the values in the constution they be stoped and put in prison for doing the right thing. Sad but true.
We don''t have to wait for history to judge Bush. Overwhelming evidence is avaliable for all to see.
Bush:
Violated his oath of office;
Violated the Constitution of the United States;
Lied to start an illegal war;
Violated the Geneva Conventions;
Ordered our service men and women to commit war crimes;
and Bankrupted the nation.
Bush IS The Worst President of the USA, bar none.
Nobody cares if his little strumpet thinks otherwise!
*** the only threat from within... was the fact that amnesty mccain almost stole the election... had he been elected... he wanted to give amnesty to over 20 million illegal hispanics... thankfully amnesty mccain lost the election! Intelligence still has its place in politics...
*** I totally agree! Unless Mccain would have been elected... Amnesty Mccain would have been even worse!
Yeah, mistakes have been made during this administration but we do have better relations with China, Brazil & we''ve done incredible work in Africa. And if people think for one second that the incoming administration is not going to make mistakes, their dreaming. Best of luck on your next endeavours. Thanks for your service.
Well, I guess if I were to assign an alphabet letter to Ms. Rice, it would be a big, fat "F"
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