Reviews
In his riveting glimpse into the life of one of the most powerful Secretaries of State in recent years, Washington Post diplomatic correspondent Glenn Kessler provides not only a revealing look at Condoleezza Rice but a rich portrait of the Bush administration's controversial foreign policy regime. From her grievous errors in judgment as national security advisor to her notable influence over the president as Secretary of State, Rice has not gone unnoticed during her rise to power. But, as an intensely private person, she has-despite endless media attention-remained a mystery.
As the first critical examination of Rice's skills as policy-maker, politician and manager, this definitive biography explains not only her rise to power, but the pivotal role she has played in our nation's history. Full of candor as well as honesty, The Confidante shows unseen moments in Rice's life and of her frequently divisive performance during one of the most tumultuous foreign-policy periods in U.S. history. Drawing on personal interviews with Rice, an intimacy afforded to Kessler as one of the few reporters granted the opportunity to travel with her, Kessler takes readers inside the secret meetings Rice has held with foreign leaders and even her private conversations with President Bush.
With access to all of Rice's top aides and sources in many overseas governments, Kessler also provides dramatic new information about one of the most secretive administrations in U.S. history. He shows how Rice molded herself into the image of a globe-trotting diplomatic super star, negating memories of her past failures. He exposes new details about her secret role in Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, her maneuvers around government bureaucracy to strike a pivotal nuclear-energy deal with India, her persuasion of Bush to support a dramatic gesture to Iran, her failure to prevent the North Korean nuclear test, and her struggle to contain the devastating war between Israel and Lebanon.
This brilliantly written book reveals not only her public and private humiliation of foreign officials but also how her charm and grace have been successful assets in repairing fractured relations overseas. Condoleezza Rice remains today and in the future one of the most alluring, controversial, and ultimately influential decision makers in the United States. With this captivating work, Kessler shows what traits could solidify her shot at greatness or what cracks in her hard veneer could send her career hurtling to ruin.
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Haaretz
"A tour de force. I have followed Rice for years, yet reading this book I feel like I only now understand her.”
Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
"Kessler, in this timely and important book, identifies the principal weakness of Rice’s stewardship as the absence of any 'coherent foreign policy vision,' especially regarding the Middle East. The calamitous consequences for America of this shortcoming are likely to be felt for years to come.”
Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security advisor, 1977-1981
"Glenn Kessler is a tough, independent beat reporter of the old school. His chronicle of Condoleezza Rice's turn as Secretary of State is meticulous and fair, but it provides a devastating account of how Rice's diplomacy often rested on wish and illusion, and was finally overwhelmed by the Bush Administration's failed foreign policies.”
Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
"Glenn Kessler has amassed a wealth of new material about Condoleezza Rice and the people around her. If you want to get beyond the image-makers and find out what Condoleezza Rice has actually been doing as secretary of state, this is the right book for you.”
James Mann, Johns Hopkins University and author of Rise of the Vulcans: The History of the Bush War Cabinet
“As foreign policy tutor, security adviser, and now as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice has stood at the center of George Bush’s foreign policy from day one. Glenn Kessler provides a fair and balanced assessment of how Rice’s actions and inactions in these first incarnations made her job of guiding foreign policy now so much more difficult. A masterful treatment that is bound to stand the test of time.”
Ivo Daalder, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-author of America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy
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At the Conservatoire Hector Berlioz in Paris, an eager group of sixteen French youngsters were learning to read music when they received a special visitor: a secretary of state on a mission to reshape American diplomacy—and her own image.
Rice was accompanied by more than two dozen aides, reporters, and other officials, including the mayor of Paris. They squeezed into the small classroom, but that did not seem to faze the businesslike teacher, who continued to lead the children through their paces. Rice, tapping her toes to keep time, soon joined in a French music comprehension refrain with the children, singing softly, “Fa-do-sol-si-re-la-sol.”
“I remember this,” she said, telling the children through an interpreter that she learned to read music from her grandmother when she was three, even before she learned to read. “It takes a lot of work to learn to read music,” she said. “You have to practice and practice and practice.” She didn’t mention that after years of study, in college she had abruptly abandoned her ambition to become a concert pianist, shifting to Soviet studies instead, when she realized she would never be in the top ranks.
As reporters watched the initially stilted conversation, one of her aides, Jim Wilkinson—who, more than anyone, was the impresario of the event—circulated among them, quietly making sure they understood how “cute” the staged event looked.
Rice was nearing the end of her first overseas trip, which began just days after she had been confirmed by the Senate. Almost every moment had been meticulously planned for weeks by Rice and her top aides, starting from the day President Bush announced that she would be his nominee for secretary of state in his second term. The State Department traditionally prides itself on being worried about the policy, not the politics, but Rice and her team had brought a White House sensitivity to images and message discipline. The overriding goal of the trip was to signal to Europeans that the Bush administration was serious about repairing relations ruptured by the Iraq War. But there was also a deeper, more personal mission at stake: eliminating the stereotype of Rice as a cold and bloodless White House staffer and catapulting her into a world figure with possible political aspirations.
No detail was too small, especially for Wilkinson, a hyperactive former Capitol Hill staffer whom Rice had brought to the National Security Council for his savvy at shaping media images. He had commissioned studies from the State Department historian’s office. He wanted to know what makes the difference between a good secretary of state and a bad one. Proximity to the president, the historian responded. That conclusion made Wilkinson feel better about Rice’s chances.
Wilkinson also wrote down a list of negative questions about Rice, a clear-eyed exercise designed to think seriously about the concerns of the media and the State Department. Once he had that list down, he could then look for ways to answer them—or at least neutralize them.
Excerpt of The Confidante