Bush's right-hand woman: with world issues at center stage, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice spends more time with the President than any other adviser-and plays a key role in the development of U.S. foreign policy.

Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's National Security Adviser, began her relationship with George W. Bush in 2000 as the foreign-policy tutor who educated the little-traveled presidential candidate in the complexities of a world more dangerous than either of them knew.

Now, four years, two wars, and countless crises later, the relationship between the President and Rice has evolved into a partnership that has shaped one of the most assertive foreign policies in recent American history.

As Rice moves through what she insists will be her last year of service in the White House, she and other top Bush advisers have begun to talk about her work with the President, with whom she spends an extraordinary amount of time--long days at the White House, summer walks at his Texas ranch, weekends of gym workouts, football games on TV, and jigsaw puzzles with the President and First Lady at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.

No other adviser spends as much time with the President as Rice. "He takes [Vice President] Cheney seriously, obviously," says a senior administration official, "but she's the last person to talk him through it."

The National Security Adviser is a key position, no matter who is in the White House. Generally, he or she (Rice is the first woman in the post) is involved in all foreign-policy matters, coordinating the work of the Defense and State departments and intelligence agencies like the CIA--and often refereeing among these powerful players when they have conflicting advice for the President.

But the job's specific responsibilities and influence depend on who has the job and his or her relationship with the President. Because of her close relationship with Bush--and the importance of foreign policy and security issues in the post 9/11 world--Rice is a critical player in many of today's most important issues.

As a presidential candidate in 2000, Bush gave a hint of his chemistry with Rice. "She's fun to be with," he said. "I like lighthearted people, not people who take themselves so seriously." Besides, he said, "She's really smart!"

Rice (whose first name was taken from the musical term con dolcezza, which means "to play with sweetness" in Italian) was born in Birmingham, Ala., where both her parents were teachers. She graduated from the University of Denver at the age of 19 and received a master's degree a year later and a doctorate in political science in 1981. She became a professor (and a Russia specialist) at Stanford University and was appointed provost when she was just 38,

REALISM AND IDEALISM

Rice, now 49, has become a germination point for Bush's foreign policy, from the war in Iraq to sidelining Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat to the policy of pre-emptive action. As an academic, she says she has melded her realism--the view that great powers act in their own self-interest--with what she calls Bush's idealism, or what his critics say is his naive belief in a "moral" American foreign policy that can spread democracy throughout the world.

Rice focuses on facts and history, while Bush starts with a set of big--picture principles rooted in his Christian faith, along with a politician's sense about other leaders and the pressures that drive them. Rice says that she sees her job as translating the President's instincts into policy, and that he influences her as much as she influences him.

"This President has a very strong anchor and compass about the direction of policy, about not just what's right and what's wrong, but what might work and what might not work," Rice says. The President likes to focus "on this issue of universal values and freedom," and after Sept. 11, she says, "I found myself seeing the value of that."

A SURROGATE DAUGHTER

To the Bushes, Rice is almost a surrogate daughter, a charming, reassuring, and--in private--sardonic presence who can explain Middle East policy in five digestible bites.

To Rice, an only child who has never married and whose parents have died, the Bushes are some of the closest friends she has. Just about the only time she spends away from her job, and the Bushes, is on Sunday afternoons, when Rice, who trained as a concert pianist, returns from Camp David and practices with a chamber music group. (She is also a passionate football fan, and says she dreams of someday being commissioner of the National Football League.)

"We are all in one way or another close to the family, but she is especially close to the family because of the time she spends with the President," says Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

Rice, however, has faced increasing criticism that while she has done a good job as the President's friend and cheerleader, she has done a bad job of managing the President's frequently warring foreign-policy team. Critics say this helped lead to little planning for the occupation of Iraq, stalled negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and no success in stopping North Korea from making nuclear weapons.

She discounts the criticism, and several senior advisers to Bush say it is in fact the President who demands the open debate. "The President has never said, 'I want only one opinion presented in the Oval Office,' " says Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House Chief of Staff. Rice, he says, "does not run around affixing muzzles to our faces."

Rice, a former Democrat turned ardent, hawkish Republican, has no trouble making her views known to the President. But she is the first to say that the President does not always take her advice.

"I don't talk the President into almost anything, all right?" Rice says. "I just want that understood. You can't do that with the President. What you can do with the President is make your arguments."

Rice worked hand in hand with Bush on translating into policy his belief that democracy has a chance in the Middle East--now a central goal of his administration. Bush concluded that it did, and that Arafat had to be marginalized so that a democratic Palestinian state might emerge. Rice was in similar lock step with Bush, and Cheney, on going to war with Iraq, senior advisers to the President say.

WHY MUSIC IS LIKE FOREIGN POLICY

But Rice is intimidated, some critics say, by the combative Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld. "Really?" Rice says, pointedly. "I wonder if Don Rumsfeld would think that. I don't think so." Rumsfeld, she says, "has a kind of a bluntness that I actually like. We're able to be direct with each other, but we're friends, and have been for years." She has managed men older than herself for years, she notes: "I was the provost of Stanford University at 38, OK?" Ultimately, she adds, she will look back on her job and compare it to that of a pianist in a chamber music group. "The pianist is always facing the fact that this beast that is The grand piano can just overwhelm in sound and volume and drama any string, or all of the strings together," she says. "So you want your playing to have personality, but you don't want it to be front and center, overwhelming. It has to be part of the team."

For Rice and Bush, a Tough 'To-Do' List

A rundown of some of the key foreign-policy challenges facing the Bush administration

By Patricia Smith 

1 IRAQ With instability (and U.S. casualties) continuing, the administration may be hard pressed to meet its deadline of June 30 to return sovereignty to the Iraqis. The U.S. wants to establish democracy in Iraq, but agreement on a viable elections process has proven elusive.

There is also the question of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, which were a major part of the rationale for Launching a pre-emptive war against Saddam Hussein. So far, no weapons have been found.

2 THE WAR ON TERROR Osama bin Laden remains at large and new attacks on the U.S. and other countries by Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are possible. The administration is also concerned that North Korea, Iran, and other "rogue" states might sell weapons of mass destruction or nuclear technology to terrorists.

3 ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS The U.S. has played a key role in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The administration is now trying to salvage its "road map" and figure out how that might be affected by Israel's announced intention to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip if there is no progress toward peace.

4 CHINA With 1.3 billion people, China is the world's most populous country. It is also a growing economic powerhouse that the U.S. must increasingly factor into its consideration of global trade and political issues. Some analysts believe China could eventually challenge the U.S.'s sole-superpower status. Taiwan--itself an economic powerhouse--remains an issue in U.S. China relations. China considers Taiwan to be a part of China, and it does not like the talk of independence it hears from Taiwan, which the U.S. is committed to defending.

5 RUSSIA The U.S. wants to encourage the development of democracy, which, despite elections, has yet to really take hold in Russia, a former superpower that has fallen on hard times. The administration also wants to make sure that Russia keeps control of its nuclear assets.

6 AMERICA'S INTERACTION WITH THE WORLD The go-it-alone approach to the Iraq war has strained relations with longtime allies like France and Germany and the United nations. The administration is also struggling to counter America's poor image in much of the Muslim world.

Is National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice the World's Most-Powerful Woman?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* Condoleezza Rice is described as a realist. What is the difference between a realist and an idealist?

* The article says U.S. foreign policy is assertive. What is an assertive foreign policy?

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand Condoleezza Rice's role as National Security Adviser to President Bush and, by extension, her influence on American foreign policy.

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

CRITICAL THINKING: The reporter notes that a key aspect of the relationship between Bush and Rice is the melding of her realism with his idealism. Ask students how they would define the difference between realism and idealism.

Discuss the role of an adviser. Remind students that the President also consults with the Secretary of State, the head of the CIA, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Cabinet members, and other foreign-policy experts. Could a President make informed decisions without the advice of experts? Ask students to discuss the value of simply sharing ideas with a trusted adviser.

POLICY MAKING: Have students read the "For Rice and Bush, a Tough 'To Do' List" sidebar on page 11. Do the problems presented there seem impossible to address? Which of the challenges seems most serious or most threatening to regional or world stability?

Next, you might wish to discuss how the U.S. can influence events in other countries. Going to war was the option the U.S. took in the case of Iraq. What other options are available? (The U.S. offered North Korea a written security pledge if that country would abandon its nuclear weapons program.) Other options include trade and aid--or cutting them off to influence other countries' behavior.

RICE AS TEAM PLAYER: Direct students to Rice's comparison of her job to that of a pianist in an orchestra: "You don't want to be ... overwhelming; it has to be part of the team." Students should understand that Rice is saying the way to get your point across is not to force it, but to cooperate with others.

WEB WATCH: www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html is a White House Web site that provides a brief biography of Rice. www-hoover.stanford.edu/bios/rice.html, a Hoover Institution Web site, provides more information on Rice before her White House appointment.

Upfront QUIZ 2

DIRECTIONS: Circle letter next to the best answer.

1. The article describes President Bush as someone whose principles are rooted in

a the Republican Party. b his commitment to political service. c his Texas upbringing. d his Christian faith.

2. Rice is working closely with Bush on a central goal of his administration:

a bringing democracy to the Middle East. b cleaning up the environment. c weakening Communism in China. d strengthening American industry.

3. The article describes Rice's world view as that of

a an idealist. b a realist. c an agnostic. d an optimist.

4. Part of the rationale for the war against Iraq was

a Saddam Hussein's cruelty to his people. b Hussein's rejection of U.S. influence in the region. c its alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. d its threats against neighboring countries.

5. Relations between the U.S. and China are affected by the U.S. commitment to defend

a South Korea. b Russia. c the Philippines. d Taiwan.

6. The pre-emptive war against Iraq strained relations with longtime allies France and Germany because they saw U.S. policy as

a too timid. b too harsh. c a "go-it-alone" strategy that did not include their input. d unnecessarily costly.

ANSWER KEY

The skills exercises on pages 4, 5, and 6 of this teaching guide are for you to photocopy and hand out in class.

1. (d) his Christian faith. 2. (a) bringing democracy to the Middle East. 3. (b) a realist. 4. (c) its alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. 5. (d) Taiwan. 6. (c) a "go-it-alone" strategy that did not include their input.

Elisabeth Bumiller is a correspondent in the Washington of The New York Times. Additional reporting Mike Freeman of the Times.