Susan Rice | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2021 | |
| 22nd Director of theDomestic Policy Council | |
| In office January 20, 2021 – May 26, 2023 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Brooke Rollins (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Neera Tanden |
| 23rdUnited States National Security Advisor | |
| In office July 1, 2013 – January 20, 2017 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Antony Blinken Avril Haines |
| Preceded by | Thomas E. Donilon |
| Succeeded by | Michael Flynn |
| 27thUnited States Ambassador tothe United Nations | |
| In office January 26, 2009 (2009-01-26) – June 30, 2013 (2013-06-30) | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Brooke Anderson Rosemary DiCarlo |
| Preceded by | Zalmay Khalilzad |
| Succeeded by | Samantha Power |
| 12thAssistant Secretary of State for African Affairs | |
| In office October 14, 1997 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | George Moose |
| Succeeded by | Walter H. Kansteiner III |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Susan Elizabeth Rice (1964-11-17)November 17, 1964 (age 61) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Emmett J. Rice (father) Lois Dickson Rice (mother) |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) New College, Oxford (MPhil,DPhil) |
| Signature |  |
Susan Elizabeth Rice (born November 17, 1964) is an American former diplomat, policy advisor, and public official. As a member of theDemocratic Party, Rice served as the 22nd director of theUnited States Domestic Policy Council from 2021 to 2023, as the 27thU.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013, and as the 23rdU.S. national security advisor from 2013 to 2017.
Rice was born in Washington, D.C., and attendedStanford University andNew College, Oxford, where she was aRhodes Scholar and received a D.Phil. She served on PresidentBill Clinton'sNational Security Council staff from 1993 to 1997 and was theassistant secretary of state for African affairs at theState Department from 1997 to 2001. Appointed at age 32, Rice was then the youngest person to have served as a regionalassistant secretary of state. Rice's tenure saw significant changes in U.S.–Africa policy, including the passage of theAfrican Growth and Opportunity Act, support for democratic transitions inSouth Africa andNigeria, and an increased U.S. focus on fighting HIV/AIDS.
A formerBrookings Institution fellow, Rice served as a foreign policy advisor to Democratic presidential nomineesMichael Dukakis,John Kerry, andBarack Obama. After Obama won the2008 presidential election, Rice was nominated as ambassador to the United Nations. The Senate confirmed her by unanimous consent on January 22, 2009. During her tenure at the United Nations, Rice championed a human rights and anti-poverty agenda, elevatedclimate change andLGBT and women's rights as global priorities, and committed the U.S. to agreements such as theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the U.N.Millennium Development Goals. She also defendedIsrael at theSecurity Council, pushed for tough sanctions againstIran andNorth Korea, and advocated for U.S. andNATOintervention in Libya in 2011.
Mentioned as a possible replacement for retiringUnited States secretary of stateHillary Clinton in 2012,[1][2] Rice withdrew from consideration following controversy related to the2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility inBenghazi.[3] PresidentBarack Obama instead named her national security advisor in 2013, where she supported U.S. efforts on theIran nuclear deal of 2015, theEbola epidemic, thereopening to Cuba, and theParis Agreement on climate change. From 2021 to 2023, Rice was the director of theDomestic Policy Council in theBiden administration.[4]
Rice was born in Washington D.C.,[5] toeducation policy scholarLois Rice (née Dickson) (1933–2017), who helped design the federalPell Grant subsidy system and who joined theBrookings Institution in 1992;[6] andEmmett J. Rice (1919–2011), aCornell University economics professor and the second black governor of theFederal Reserve System.[5] Her maternal grandparents wereJamaican immigrants toPortland, Maine; her paternal grandparents were the descendants of enslaved Africans and fromSouth Carolina.[7][8] Her parents divorced when Rice was ten years of age.[9] In 1978, her mother marriedAlfred Bradley Fitt, an attorney, who at the time was general counsel of the U. S. Congressional Budget Office.
Rice said that her parents taught her to "never use race as an excuse or advantage," and as a young girl she "dreamed of becoming the first U.S. senator from the District of Columbia".[5]
Rice was a three-letter varsity athlete,[10]student government president, andvaledictorian atNational Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., a private girls'day school.[11] She attendedStanford University, where she won aTruman Scholarship and graduated with aBachelor of Arts (BA) with honors in history in 1986. She was also awarded aNational Merit Scholarship and electedPhi Beta Kappa her junior year.[12][13][14]
Rice attendedNew College, Oxford on aRhodes Scholarship, where she earned aMaster of Philosophy (MPhil) in 1988 and aDoctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1990, both in International Relations.[14] Her doctoral dissertation was entitledCommonwealth Initiative in Zimbabwe, 1979–1980: Implications for International Peacekeeping.Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, honored her dissertation as the UK's most distinguished ininternational relations.[5][15] During her time at Oxford, Rice was a member of theOxford University Women's Basketball Team.[16]
Rice served as a foreign policy aide toMichael Dukakis duringhis campaign in the1988 presidential election. She was a management consultant atMcKinsey & Company, a globalmanagement consulting firm, from 1990 to early 1992. Rice worked in McKinsey's Toronto office.[17]
Rice served in theClinton administration in various capacities: at theNational Security Council (NSC) from 1993 to 1997 (as director for international organizations and peacekeeping from 1993 to 1995, and as special assistant to the president and senior director for African affairs from 1995 to 1997); and as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1997 to 2001. Rice's tenure saw significant changes in U.S.-Africa policy, including the passage of theAfrican Growth and Opportunity Act, support for democratic transitions inSouth Africa andNigeria, and an increased U.S. focus on fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic.[7]: 201–204
At the time of the 1994Rwandan genocide, Rice reportedly said, "If we use the word 'genocide' and are seen as doing nothing, what will be the effect on theNovember election?" She denied the quote but acknowledged the mistakes made at the time and felt that a debt needed repaying.[18][7]: 152 The inability or failure of the Clinton administration to do anything about the genocide would form her later views on possible military interventions.[19] She said of the experience: "I swore to myself that if I ever faced such a crisis again, I would come down on the side of dramatic action, going down in flames if that was required."[20] Later in 2012, during an interview withThe New Republic, Rice stated "To suggest that I'm repenting for [Rwanda] or that I'm haunted by that or that I don't sleep at night because of that or that every policy I've implemented subsequently is driven by that is garbage."[21]
Timothy M. Carney, former U.S. ambassador to Sudan, co-authored anop-ed in 2002 claiming that in 1997 Sudan offered to turn over its intelligence onOsama bin Laden but that Rice, together with then NSC terrorism specialistRichard A. Clarke, successfully lobbied for continuing to bar U.S. officials from engaging with the Khartoum government.[22] Similar allegations were made byVanity Fair contributing editor David Rose[23] andRichard Miniter, author ofLosing Bin Laden.[24] The allegations against Rice were determined to be unfounded by theJoint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 and the9/11 Commission, which found no evidence that Sudan ever made an offer to share intelligence on bin Laden.[7]
Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright, a longtime mentor and family friend to Rice, urged Clinton to appoint Rice asAssistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in 1997.[5] At aconfirmation hearing chaired by SenatorJohn Ashcroft, Rice, who attended the hearing along with her infant son whom she was thennursing, made a great impression on senators from both parties and "sailed through the confirmation process."[5]
In the context of the Rwandan, Ugandan,AFDL and Angolaninvasion of Zaire (later known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1996 and overthrow of dictatorMobutu Sese Seko, Rice is alleged to have said that "Anything's better than Mobutu."[25] According toGérard Prunier, a staffer to the Assistant Secretary said that "the only thing we have to do is look the other way," with respect to regional intervention in the conflict.[26]New York Times correspondentHoward W. French said that according to his sources, Rice herself made the remark.[27]
On July 7, 1998, Rice was a member of an American delegation to visit detained Nigerian president-elect BasorunMoshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. During this meeting, Abiola had a fatal heart attack.[28]
Rice supported U.S. efforts to reach both theLusaka Ceasefire Agreement in the Congo and theLomé Peace Accord in Sierra Leone.[29] Some observers criticized the Sierra Leone agreement as too indulgent of theRevolutionary United Front (RUF) and for bringing the war criminalFoday Sankoh into government, leading to the adoption ofUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1313, which blamed the RUF for the continuing conflict in the west African country.[30] Rice played a major role in peace negotiations between Ethiopia and Eritrea during theEritrean–Ethiopian War, leading to theAlgiers Agreement in 2000 ending the conflict. For her efforts she was named a co-recipient of the White House's Samuel Nelson Drew Memorial Award for "distinguished contributions to the formation of peaceful, cooperative relationships between nations," alongsideGayle Smith andAnthony Lake.[31][7]: 183
Rice had a contentious relationship with State Department veteranRichard Holbrooke, whom she considered to be meddling on her turf and who in return felt she was rising too quickly in U.S. diplomatic ranks.[32][33]
Rice was managing director and principal atIntellibridge from 2001 to 2002.[34][35] From 2002 to 2009, she was asenior fellow at theBrookings Institution, where "she focused on U.S. foreign policy,weak and failing states, the implications ofglobal poverty, and transnational threats tosecurity."[36]
Michael E. O'Hanlon andIvo Daalder, two Brookings colleagues of Rice at the time, said that Rice consistently opposed the2003 invasion of Iraq in the run-up to the war.[37] In 2012, columnistPeter Beinart reviewed a series of NPR interviews with Rice in late 2002 and early 2003 and concluded that Rice's position on war was equivocal.[38][39] For example, in a December 2002NPR interview, Rice said, "It's clear that Iraq poses a major threat. It's clear that itsweapons of mass destruction need to be dealt with forcefully, and that's the path we're on. I think the question becomes whether we can keep the diplomatic balls in the air and not drop any, even as we move forward, as we must, on the military side.... The George W. Bushadministration frankly owes the American public a much fuller and more honest assessment of what the costs will be of the actual conflict, as well as the aftermath, the post-conflict reconstruction. And the costs are going to be huge."[38][37][40] In her memoir, Rice wrote, "Long experienced with the menace of Al Qaeda, I was one of the very few scholars at Brookings to openly oppose the Iraq War. From the start, I viewed that war of choice as a dangerous diversion from the main objective of defeating Al Qaeda globally and in Afghanistan."[7]: 212 Shortly after the war began, Rice warned that the U.S. commitment torebuilding Iraq would likely last for many years.[41]
Rice served as a foreign policy adviser toJohn Kerry during Kerry's2004 presidential campaign.[42]
Rice went on leave from the Brookings Institution to serve as a senior foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama in his2008 presidential campaign. She was one of the first high-profile foreign policy staffers to sign onto Obama's campaign, as most of her peers had supportedHillary Clinton during the presidential primaries.[32] Rice criticized Obama's Republican opponent in the campaign,John McCain, calling his policies "reckless" and dismissing the Arizona senator's trip to Iraq as "strolling around the market in a flak jacket."[43]
On November 5, 2008, Rice was named to the advisory board of theObama–Biden transition.[44]
On December 1, 2008, President-elect Obama announced that he would nominate Rice to be theUnited States ambassador to the United Nations,[45][46] a position which he restored tocabinet level.[47] Reportedly, Rice had wanted the post of national security advisor, which instead went to retiredUnited States Marine CorpsgeneralJames L. Jones.[32]
At her confirmation hearing, Rice was introduced by SenatorSusan Collins who said "I can think of ... no better messenger than Dr. Susan Rice. I am honored to present her to this distinguished committee, and I enthusiastically endorse her nomination."[48] Rice was confirmed by the Senate byvoice vote on January 22, 2009.[49][50] Rice became the second-youngest person[47] and the first black woman to represent the U.S. at the UN.[51]
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During her tenure at the United Nations, Rice championed a human rights and anti-poverty agenda, elevated climate change and women's rights as global priorities, and committed the U.S. to agreements such as theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the U.N.Millennium Development Goals.[citation needed] Rice led the fight to advance LGBT rights at theU.N. Human Rights Council and was recognized for her staunch defense of Israel at theSecurity Council.[52][53] Rice won praise for leading the Security Council to impose the toughest sanctions to date onIran andNorth Korea over their nuclear programs, and for reaffirming U.S. commitment to the UN and multilateralism.[54]
Three Security Council diplomats took issue with Rice's negotiating style, calling it "rude" and overly blunt, while others attributed those criticisms to sexism. According toDavid Rothkopf ofForeign Policy, Rice could be challenging to work with due to her "toughness"—in the mold ofJames Baker orHenry Kissinger—but had the asset of a close relationship with the U.S. president and proved to be an effective policymaker. Some human rights activists took issue with Rice and U.S. foreign policy generally in 2012 for working against UN statements that criticized Rwanda for supporting arebel group in Congo known for committing atrocities.[55]
As the2011 Libyan Civil War progressed, the United States and its allies offered a choice for ColonelMuammar Gaddafi and his aides: step down from power or face an international response. Rice offered some of the toughest rhetoric toward Gaddafi, criticizing his denials of atrocities against his own citizens as "frankly, delusional."[56] In a closed-door Security Council meeting in April 2011, Rice reportedly stated that Gaddafi loyalists engaged in atrocities, includingterrorizing the population with sexual violence, and that Gaddafi's troops has been issued Viagra.[57] Investigations by Amnesty International,Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without Borders contradicted Rice and stated they did not find first-hand evidence that mass rapes had occurred as Rice had claimed.[58][59][60] Together with National Security Council figureSamantha Power, who already supported theU.S.-led military intervention in Libya, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who came to support it, the three overcame internal opposition from Defense SecretaryRobert Gates, security adviserThomas E. Donilon, and counterterrorism adviserJohn Brennan, to have the administration advance a UN proposal to impose ano-fly zone over Libya and authorize other military actions as necessary.[19][61]
On March 17, 2011, the UK, France and Lebanon joined the U.S. to vote forUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 while Brazil, Germany, and India joined permanent Security Council members China and Russia in abstaining. Rice and Clinton played major roles in gaining approval for the resolution.[19][62] Rice said, "we are interested in a broad range of actions that will effectively protect civilians and increase the pressure on the Gaddafi regime to halt the killing and to allow the Libyan people to express themselves in their aspirations for the future freely and peacefully."[63]
In January 2012, after the Russian and Chinese veto of a Security Council resolution calling on Syrian presidentBashar al-Assad to step down, Rice strongly condemned both countries, saying, "They put a stake in the heart of efforts to resolve this conflict peacefully," and adding that "we the United States are standing with the people of Syria. Russia and China are obviously with Assad."[64] In her words, "the United States is disgusted that a couple of members of this Council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose."[65]
On September 11, 2012, a U.S. diplomatic facility and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, wasattacked, resulting in the deaths of theUnited States ambassador to LibyaJ. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service information management officerSean Smith, and two former Navy SEALS,Glen Doherty andTyrone S. Woods. On September 16, Rice appeared onfive major interview shows to discuss the attacks. Prior to her appearance, Rice was provided with "talking points" from a CIA memo.[66]
Each of the 11 drafts of CIA talking points maintained that the attack was "spontaneously inspired" by a violent protest at the American embassy inCairo, Egypt, hours earlier, which had beentriggered by the release of an anti-Muslim video.[67] Protestors breached and entered the embassy compound.[68] During the hours before the Benghazi attack, Egyptian satellite television networks popular in Benghazi had been covering the outrage over the video.[69]
Since Rice's five television appearances, there have been persistent accusations that she had intentionally misled the public. However, none of theten Benghazi investigations conducted by Congress—six by Republican-controlled House committees—determined she had. The Republican-controlledHouse Intelligence Committee's two-year investigation found that CIA analysts had erred and that there was no conclusive evidence showing that Rice or any other government official acted in bad faith or intentionally misled the American people.[70]
A group of 97 House Republicans sent a letter to Obama on November 19 to say Rice's statements were "misleading" and that she should accordingly not be considered a candidate to succeedHillary Clinton in 2013 assecretary of state.[71] Some Republican senators, who would have had a vote on whether toconfirm Rice, also voiced objections and said their meetings with Rice at the end of November 2012 did not ease their concerns.[72][73][74] On December 13, 2012, in a letter to Obama, Rice asked him to remove her name from consideration for secretary of state.[3]
Rice was picked to succeedTom Donilon asnational security advisor following Donilon's resignation on June 5, 2013.[75] The position of national security advisor does not require Senate approval.[76] Rice was sworn in on July 1, 2013.[77] During her tenure, she supported major U.S. efforts on theIran nuclear deal of 2015,Ebola epidemic,reopening to Cuba, fight against theIslamic State, andParis Agreement on climate change.
In releasing the 2015 National Security Strategy, Rice said that the United States was pursuing an "ambitious yet achievable agenda" overseas. She argued that U.S. leadership had been essential for success on issues includingEbola,[78] Iran's nuclear program, and sanctioning Russia over Ukraine. The document formed a blueprint for foreign policy, defense, and national security for the last two years of Obama's second term. It had previously been updated in 2010. In a letter outlining the strategy, Obama said that the U.S. would "always defend our interests and uphold our commitments to allies and partners," adding, "But we have to make hard choices among many competing priorities and we must always resist the overreach that comes when we make decisions based upon fear."[79]
Rice criticizedhuman rights violations in U.S.-alignedEgypt and condemned the August 2013Rabaa massacre, in which Egyptian security forces killed over 1,000 people during mass anti-government protests. Her position at times contradicted that of Secretary of StateJohn Kerry.[80][81] In response, Rice led a review of U.S. assistance to Egypt, which resulted in the cancellation of planned joint military exercises and suspension of arms shipments.[7]: 351
Rice was the lone dissenter in Obama's national security team on his decision toseek congressional authorization for military strikes against Syria's chemical weapons facilities, following the Assad regime'suse of sarin gas against civilians in August 2013. She argued that the administration should move forward with strikes to punish Assad, correctly predicting Congress would not grant authorization.[82] Rice and Kerry later worked to pursue a diplomatic solution with Russia instead. This effort led toUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 2118, which compelled Syria to destroy its declared chemical weapons stockpile and join theChemical Weapons Convention. Under the agreement, 1,300 metric tons of chemical weapons were removed from Syria under international observation. Nevertheless, the Assad regime either obtained or produced additional sarin gas for renewed chemical attacks in 2017.[83]
In May 2014, Rice traveled toIsrael for meetings with Israeli officials in whichnuclear talks with Iran were discussed. Rice's visit, her first as national security advisor, came after peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed. The Obama administration made clear that Rice's trip was part of regularly scheduled talks and that the stalled Middle East peace discussions were not on the agenda.[84] Rice was criticized by some for intensifying the Obama administration's conflicts with Israel during her time as national security advisor.Dennis Ross, one of Obama's Middle East advisors, criticized Rice's "combative mind-set" as opposed to her predecessor,Tom Donilon, who played a more conciliatory role. Ross wrote that after Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu's public reprimand of the Obama administration's Iran negotiations, Rice relayed toAbraham Foxman that, "in her view, the Israeli leader did everything but use 'theN-word' in describing the president."[85][86] However, in July 2014, Rice expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself during the2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. She stated: "When countries single out Israel for unfair treatment at the UN, it isn't just a problem for Israel, it is a problem for all of us."[87] In 2015, Rice criticized Netanyahu for agreeing to speak to Congress aboutIran's nuclear program without coordinating with the Obama administration.[88] She negotiated a newmemorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Israel in 2016 for $38 billion in military assistance, the largest such package in Israel's history.[89][7]: 430
The Obama administration supported theSaudi-and Emirati-led intervention in Yemen andblockade of Yemen, but Rice opposed a coalition attack on the port city ofAl Hudaydah and personally called UAE crown princeMohammed bin Zayed to stop the planned offensive.[90]
Rice supportedSouth Sudanese independence and initial U.S. aid to the government of presidentSalva Kiir Mayardit.[91][92] When theSouth Sudanese Civil War broke out in 2013 betweenPresident Kiir's forces and forces led by vice presidentRiek Machar, the U.S. continued its support for the Kiir administration despite reports from U.S. embassy staff of atrocities committed by the government.[93][94] Rice ultimately joined calls for an arms embargo against South Sudan in 2016, but the measure failed to win passage at theUN Security Council.[95][96]: 397
Rice was perceived as having a strong personal rapport withRwanda's presidentPaul Kagame.[97][98] Some critics of the Obama administration's Africa policy faulted Rice for what they viewed as the U.S.'s failure to take action against Rwanda for its role in theKivu conflict.[99]
On a visit toPakistan in 2015, Rice warned Pakistani political and military leaders that attacks in Afghanistan by militants based in Pakistan threatened regional security. Rice also delivered an invitation from Obama forPrime MinisterNawaz Sharif to visit the United States in October. The meetings came at a tense time for Pakistan's relations with neighboringAfghanistan and archrivalIndia, along with uncertainty over whether the United States would release $300 million in military aid to Pakistan.[100]
In a 2015 speech onChina–United States relations, Rice noted the problems ofChinese intelligence operations in the United States, saying, "This is not a mild irritation. It is an economic and national security concern to the United States. It puts enormous strain on our bilateral relationship, and it is a critical factor in determining the future trajectory of U.S.–China ties."[101][102]
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On March 8, 2017, Rice became a distinguished visiting research fellow in the School of International Service (SIS) atAmerican University. In her residency, she planned to work on her next book and to mentor young SIS students.[103]
On March 28, 2018, Rice was appointed to the board of directors atNetflix.[104]
On April 3, 2017,Eli Lake reported inBloomberg View that as national security advisor, Rice had requested that the identities of some Americans mentioned in intelligence reports related to thecampaign andpresidential transition ofDonald Trump beunmasked.[105] Any request for an American's identity to be unmasked required approval by theNational Security Agency; the agency's director,Michael Rogers, said it evaluated each request to determine "Is there a valid need to know in the course of the execution of their official duties?" and "Is the identification necessary to truly understand the context of the intelligence value that the report is designed to generate?"[106] Rice said that she asked for identities ofU.S. persons to be revealed to provide context to the intelligence reports, and not for political purposes.[107][108]
The report of Rice unmasking Trump officials followed an announcement byDevin Nunes, the Republican chair of theHouse Intelligence Committee, "that he had seen reports indicating that Mr. Trump or his associates might have been 'incidentally' swept up in the monitoring of foreigners".[108] The committee was investigating both Trump's ties toRussian attempts to influence the 2016 election andTrump's allegations that Obama hadTrump Tower under surveillance.[105] Lake's April 3 report of the unmasking specified "Rice's requests to unmask the names of Trump transition officials do not vindicate Trump's own tweets from March 4 in which he accused Obama of illegally tapping Trump Tower."[105] Nevertheless, some Republicans called for an investigation into the unmasking while Democrats said that the unmasking story was a diversion from the investigation intoRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[108]
After members of the House andSenate Intelligence Committees were able to view the material on which Nunes based his assertions, both Democrats and Republicans familiar with the material said that there was "no evidence that Obama administration officials did anything unusual or illegal".[109][110][111] Congressional intelligence sources called Rice's unmasking requests "normal and appropriate" for a national security adviser.[109]
In August 2017, Eli Lake reported inBloomberg View that Rice's successor as national security adviser,H. R. McMaster, "has concluded that Rice did nothing wrong".[112]
Rice testified to the House Intelligence Committee in September 2017 that she requested the unmasking because of a redacted intelligence report concerning an undisclosed visit to the United States byUnited Arab Emirates crown princeMohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in December 2016. During the visit, al-Nahyan met with Trump campaign advisorsSteve Bannon,Michael Flynn, andJared Kushner atTrump Tower in New York. Rice's testimony appeared to allay the concerns of Republicans, with Committee memberMike Conaway stating, "She was a good witness, answered all our questions. I'm not aware of any reason to bring her back."[113][114]
In May 2020, Attorney GeneralBill Barr appointed federal prosecutorJohn Bash to examine unmasking conducted by the Obama administration.[115] The inquiry concluded in October 2020 with no findings of substantive wrongdoing.[116] Bash's 52-page report, previously classified top secret, was released in May 2022. Bash wrote he had found no evidence that any unmasking requests were made for any political or otherwise improper reasons during the 2016 election period or the ensuing presidential transition.[117]
Rice criticized the United States'close relationship withSaudi Arabia because of the murder of journalistJamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia'shuman rights abuses, Saudi Arabia'sdiplomatic dispute with Canada, Saudi Arabian-ledintervention in Yemen and Saudi Arabian-ledblockade against Qatar.[118][119] Rice also criticized Trump's decision towithdraw U.S. troops from Syria, which critics say gaveTurkey the green light toinvade and occupy northern Syria and attackKurdish forces, who had assisted the U.S. in the destruction of theIslamic State.[120]
In June 2020 Rice criticized Israeli proposals toannex parts of the West Bank andJordan Valley, stating that such a move would make it more difficult to sustain traditionally bipartisan support for Israel in the United States.[121] Rice takes the view that atwo-state solution is the only way to keep Israel both aJewish and democratic state.[121] Rice was part of the Biden administration team that launched[122] theU.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism on May 25, 2023.
After U.S. senatorSusan Collins fromMainevoted to confirmBrett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Rice publicly considered challenging Collins in2020,[123][124] before announcing in April 2019 that she would not run for Senate.[125]
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In July 2020, it was widely reported that Rice wasunder consideration to beJoe Biden's vice presidential running mate in the2020 general election.[126] However,Kamala Harris was selected as Biden's running mate on August 11, 2020.
On September 5, 2020, Rice was announced to be a member of the advisory council of the Biden-Harris Transition Team, which planned theBiden's presidential transition.[127][128] In November, she was named a candidate forsecretary of state in theBiden Administration.[129]
Biden chose Rice to head theDomestic Policy Council.[130] This was considered a surprise by many political commentators, noting her experience in foreign policy overdomestic policy.[131]
In April 2023, journalistHannah Dreier suggested in aNew York Times article that Rice was among the leading White House officials who may have been negligent in response to the uncovered migrant child labor crisis.[132]
On April 24, 2023, President Biden announced that Rice would be departing from her position as director of the Domestic Policy Council on May 26, 2023.[133] On May 24, 2023, she touted her work in domestic and national security policy initiatives during her tenure at the White House.[134]
Rice is a distinguished visiting research fellow at American University'sSchool of International Service and non-resident senior fellow at theBelfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University'sJohn F. Kennedy School of Government.[103][135] She is also a contributing opinion writer for theNew York Times.[136] She is currently on the board ofNetflix and is a member of theAspen Strategy Group,[137] theAmerican Academy of Diplomacy,[138] and theCouncil on Foreign Relations.[139]
Rice is a member of theDefense Policy Board Advisory Committee.[140]
Rice married formerABC News executive producer Ian Officer Cameron[141] on September 12, 1992, at theSt. Albans School chapel in Washington D.C.[17] They met as students at Stanford[142] and have two children.[14][143]
While they have the same surname and have held the same job, Susan Rice andCondoleezza Rice are unrelated.The Hill and others have notably mistaken the Democraticnational security advisor for her Republican counterpart.[144]
Rice was inducted into Stanford's Black Alumni Hall of Fame in 2002.[15] In 2017, PresidentFrançois Hollande named Rice a commander of theLegion of Honour for her contributions to Franco-American relations.[145]
| Country | Date | Decoration | Post-nominal letters |
|---|---|---|---|
 France | 2017 – Present | Commander of the Legion of Honour |
 |
| Location | Date | School | Degree |
|---|---|---|---|
 California | 1986 | Stanford University | HonorsBachelor of Arts (BA) inHistory |
 England | 1988 | New College, Oxford | Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) inInternational Relations |
| England | 1990 | New College, Oxford | Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) inInternational Relations |
| Location | Date | School | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 2014 – Present | New College, Oxford | Honorary Fellow[146] |
 District of Columbia | 2017 – Present | TheSchool of International Service atAmerican University | Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow[147] |
 Massachusetts | 2017 – Present | TheBelfer Center for Science and International Affairs atHarvard University | Senior Fellow[135] |
|
| Location | Date | School | Degree | Gave Commencement Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Georgia (U.S. state) | 2010 | Spelman College | Doctorate[148] | Yes[149] |
| District of Columbia | 2012 | Howard University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[150] | No |
 Maine | 2018 | Bowdoin College | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[151][152] | No |
|
| Location | Date | Organisation | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 2002 – 2009 | Brookings Institution | Senior Fellow |
|
[inducted] 2002
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs 1997–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National Security Advisor 2013–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Brooke Rollins Acting | Director of theDomestic Policy Council 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States ambassador to the United Nations 2009–2013 | Succeeded by |
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