Making her mark on history

As President George W. Bush's national security advisor, she has already testified in private to the commission in February; how will she measure up during Thursday's two-and-a-half hours of public testimony?

04/07/04 US plan for Mideast still makes waves 04/06/04 US Afghan envoy angers Pakistan 04/05/04 'The worst of all worlds'

Sign up to be notified daily: Find out more.

"Through it all," says The Christian Science Monitor, "Rice will defend the record on terrorism of the president she is unusually close to and fiercely loyal to, knowing the political ramifications of her testimony in an election year could be great."

As she testifies under oath, Ms. Rice, through style and substance, creates her image for history. Following in the footsteps of John Dean, Oliver North, and Richard Clarke, she speaks before ten commissioners, their 80 staff members, some of the family and friends of those killed in the fateful terror attack who are present in the hearing room, political allies and foes connected enough to score admission to the hearing room, press, and finally, to tens of millions of viewers around the world.

What do we know about the woman under the lights?

Before she said a word, the cameras framed an African-American woman with roots in Birmingham, Alabama who " grew up under the shadow of segregation," says the BBC. A precocious and confident child, "Taught by her parents that education provided armour against segregation and prejudice". A woman who worked her way to college by the age of 15, graduated from Denver University at 19, and grew up accepting the fact that to get ahead she "had to be twice as good" as her peers.

" Performance comes naturally to her," says USA Today. An only child, Rice "began taking [piano] lessons at age three and considered a career as a concert pianist." She performed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Her mother was a teacher; her father was a Presbyterian minister and high school guidance counselor. "They told her she could do anything."

Highlights from her official biography vindicate her parents faith in her.

• In June 1999, she completed a six-year tenure as Stanford University's provost, during which she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer.
• As professor of political science, Dr. Rice joined the Stanford faculty in 1981 where she won two of the highest teaching honors - the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching.
• From 1989 through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the final days of the Soviet Union, she served in the administration of President George H. W. Bush as director, and then senior director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and as a special assistant to the President for national security affairs.
• In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as special assistant to the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• She is the first woman to occupy the key post of national security adviser.

The BBC reports:

She is the most academic member of the Bush foreign affairs team and - because of her gender, background and youth - one of the most distinctive. She is personally close to Mr Bush, barely leaving his side during the 2000 presidential election. And, as a well-liked and trusted policy adviser, she has proved a useful ally for a president with little experience of foreign affairs.

"My family is third-generation college-educated," Rice told Christianity Today in an interview. "I should've gotten to where I am." Certainly one of the ways she will present herself today is as an educator, speaking to, as well as over her questioners to the broader audience tuning in. With the confidence that comes from knowing a subject and presenting it for years in a classroom, she will instruct viewers as to her and the Bush administration's positions and policies.

But perhaps, most telling about how she fares Thursday's hearing are her own words taking measure of herself and how she handles a crisis.

Again, in the Christianity Today interview, she says that when she needs guidance, or reinforcement of her convictions, she turns to prayer. And most likely she turns to the Bible, Romans 5, which essentially means she says, "Glory also in tribulation, because tribulation breeds perseverance and perseverance patience, and with patience comes hope. And hope is never disappointed, because of faith in the glory of God."

Also...
• Two-Front Insurgency ( MTV)
• The perfect spiral ( Stanford Daily)
• Sitting Duck ( The Washington Post)
• Official biography ( The White House)

• Feedback appreciated. E-mail Jim Bencivenga .