What is Condoleezza Rice Best Known For, Who is The Husband, Net Worth and Full Bio

Condoleezza Rice’s foray into the world of elite politics stands right up there for many reasons, the biggest or most noticeable being her ethnicity. Rice is only the second black person and second female to be appointed as the US Secretary of State. However, in the same vein as former President Barack Obama, she is the first female Black American ever to be appointed to such a prestigious position. This happened in 2004 under the then-president George W. Bush.

Condoleezza Rice’s full bio

Rice whose heritage leads back to Europe and Africa was born to a mother who was a high school science and music teacher and a father who was a guidance counselor and Presbyterian minister. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama on November 14, 1954.

From the age of three, Rice had a love for languages, the arts, and music. By the time she was fifteen, she wanted to be a concert pianist but life had other plans. She graduated from an all-girls Catholic school, St. Mary’s Academy in Colorado in 1971. She then moved on to the University of Denver to study Music. However, down the line, owing to a series of events and sitting in on an International Politics course, she switched her major and graduated with a B.A, cum laude in political science.

She obtained her master’s in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 1975, after which she interned at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the State Department in 1977. At the age of 26, in 1981, she obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies.

In 1981, Rice became an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University and was promoted to associate professor in 1987. In 1989, she served under the National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft as a Soviet expert on the United States National Security Council. Two years later, she returned to Stanford and became a personal mentee of George P. Shultz who served as the Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan. Due to her in-depth knowledge of the Soviet Union and Shultz’s recommendation, Condoleezza Rice has served on the board of prestigious companies such as Chevron Corporation, Transamerica Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard all in the early 90s.

In 1993, Rice was appointed as Provost of the University of Stanford and also made a full professor. She broke three records following her appointment, becoming the first female, first African-American, and youngest Provost in the history of the institution. In the first two years of her tenure, Rice took the school’s multi-million dollar budget from a deficit of $20 million to a surplus of over $14.5 million.

What is Condoleezza Rice Best Known For?

After serving as the special assistant to the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as the foreign policy adviser to George W. Bush during his 2000 Presidential Campaign, she was appointed to serve as National Security Adviser. It was during her tenure that the United States experienced the 9/11 attacks. Her time as National Security Adviser saw her become the first sitting National Security Adviser to testify directly or indirectly before the US Congress.

On November 16, 2004, President George W. Bush nominated her for Secretary of State, a nomination that was confirmed in an 85-13 vote by the Senate. Hers was the most negative vote recorded against a Secretary of State nominee since 1825. Some of the nay voters included Barbara Boxer and Robert Byrd who believed the Bush administration had done badly on the foreign policy and terrorism intelligence fronts. Condoleeza Rice is the most traveled Secretary of State, as her tenure saw her initiate diplomatic efforts on behalf of George W. Bush with the likes of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s then-foreign minister Saud al-Faisal.

Throughout her political career, she showed divided opinions on sensitive issues such as LGBT rights, gun control, terrorism, nuclear capabilities, immigration, abortion and much more.

During one of her final interviews as Secretary of State in December 2008, Condoleezza Rice announced that she would be returning to Stanford as a professor. She made it clear that teaching has always been where her heart is. As of 2012, the former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State is a member of the Political Science faculty as a professor of political science. She also sits on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business as the Denning Professor in Global Business and Economy.

Condoleezza Rice: Who is her husband?

The academician cum politician apparently has never considered raising a family as a priority. However, Rice does have a dating history.

Sometime in the 1970s, she was in a relationship with Ric Upchurch, a then-professional American footballer. The couple even got engaged right before Rice left him, citing that she knew the relationship was going nowhere. In 2007, it was revealed in Glenn Kessler’s book The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy, that Condoleezza co-owned a home in Palo-Alto with documentary filmmaker and writer Randy Bean. This revelation sparked rumors about whether the two women’s relationship was more than just friendship.

For what it’s worth, Condoleezza Rice has never been married neither has she had any children.

What is Condoleezza Rice’s net worth?

There is a lot to consider when confirming Rice’s net worth. Her salary during her time in politics and her salary while serving as Provost and professor at the University of Stanford, before and after her political career. Rice has also made a guest appearance on an episode of NBC’s comedy series 30 Rock as herself. Plus, she sold her Palo Alto home in 2017 for a tidy sum of $2.3 million. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Condoleezza’s net worth stands at $8 million.

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