Customer Reviews

Twice As Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It has always seemed to me that writing a biography about a living person is fraught with intellectual risk and potential embarrassment. After all, living human beings are never static and one can well imagine that on the very day a particular biography is published, the subject of the work has undergone a recent metamorphoses and is no longer the person written about. (By the way, I admit to having the same fear about making statements which I deem to be "absolutely certain"; I just know that if I absolutely deny the existence of unicorns, one will show up in my backyard the next day!) Anyway, I have to admire Marcus Mabry's willingness to tackle a biography of Condoleezza Rice. She is still alive and well and, moreover, holds a very controversial political position in very controversial times. Not only is Rice one of the most powerful public figures in the world; she is also a Republican, more or less politically "conservative," a person of the female gender and, most notably I think, a person of "color" -- a Black leader in a predominately White establishment. She is, in fact, the first Black woman to hold an office as high as U.S. secretary of state. No mean feat, that.

There are two important points that need to be emphasized at the outset. First, this is the first biography of Rice to be written since she assumed her role as U.S. secretary of state. Second, it is apparently the first biography with which she has cooperated and, also apparently, without putting any editorial restrictions on the author. As far as I can judge -- admittedly from a distance -- Mabry is as "fair and balanced" (as the popular saying goes) as can be expected. I found no particular "agenda" on his part nor any specific bias in dealing with the subject at hand. I am well aware that it is suspected that mainstream journalists are "modernist liberal" in their orientation and critical of political conservatives and Republicans, but I found no obvious attempt on Mabry's part to skew his writing negatively toward Rice's political views, even though he does now and then critique them. But rational critique is fair play and, for that matter, there are many points upon which I disagree with Rice and especially her boss, the current president of the United States.

The heart of Mabry's book, as far as I am concerned, is not his presentation of Rice's evolution as a political and academic luminary, which she surely became, but his telling about her upbringing, her childhood, her family, her early relationships, and so on. One can only admire Rice's mother, Angelena, and her father, Rev. John Rice, who planted the first aspirations in their daughter to rise above the circumstances in which she was born and raised, which was, of course, the American deep South where to be Black was to be not only endangered, but to be considered less than a full member of the human community. She was encouraged by her parents to dismiss the thought that she was a lesser person than Whites simply by virtue of her race. She was encouraged to reject the "victim" label and to set her own goals and achieve them regardless of the environment surrounding her. Furthermore, her parents saw to it that Condoleezza was provided every opportunity possible to enhance herself as a person, including the dream of becoming a concert musician. And this was during the heyday of the civil rights movement when even young girls were targets of terrorist bigotry resulting in death (e.g., the Birmingham church bombing which killed four little girls in 1963 and is described in Mabry's book; Rice felt the blast as she sat in the pew of her father's church two miles away).

It may be difficult for some readers to understand how Rice could dismiss and overcome the minority status she was supposed to recognize and accept and go on to become the exceptional person and high official that she has become. I do not find that difficult to understand at all. I grew up during the 1940s and 50s as a "member" of two minority groups which were also discriminated against, although my personal situation was not as drastic or obvious. I can recall the taunts that I and my Native American cousins were subjected to by some of our contemporaries in those days, some of the sneers ethnic in nature and some of them religious since many of us were also members of a religious minority. Don't get me wrong here: I am not equating being female and Black (which are obvious features) with my situation where the minority status was not obvious and could be hidden. Also, without doubt, Condoleezza Rice faced many more difficult obstacles to overcome. Nevertheless, one does have a choice, and Rice truly exemplifies what a person can do to defeat any hardships one encounters. One decides, as she must have done, to ignore the negatives and to seek the positives. I was the first member of my family to graduate from college and -- surprise! -- earn a doctoral degree, then go on to live a so-far satisfying and successful professional life. It can be done.

Marcus Mabry has written an excellent biography of this amazing woman and that is not hyperbole. His book is well researched (over thirty-five pages of notes and references in fine print!) and includes fascinating interviews with Rice's family, friends, and colleagues. And, by the way, not all of them are flattering. It is, moreover, a revealing look into the private and public soul of a very complex individual, including many of the internal contradictions one would expect to see in a person as intelligent, dedicated, and complicated as Condoleezza Rice obviously is; furthermore, Mabry's book does not, fortunately, descend into that morass of tabloid biographical "journalism" which has become so commonplace in this day and age. In my judgment, Mabry, a journalist who is now chief of correspondents at "Newsweek" magazine, conducts himself as an objective observer in every way and can now proudly add the title "professional biographer" to his résumé.

Postscript: As I was preparing this brief review, Dr. Condoleezza Rice was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by "Time" magazine. Good choice! Mabry's book will certainly provide the rationale for that citation. Also, I just received my June 2007 copy of "The Atlantic" magazine today. Can you guess who's on the cover? Condoleezza Rice, of course, with a story about her ventures into resolving the Middle East situation. So, is Mabry's biography of Rice timely? I should think so. Highly recommended; don't miss reading it.

My immediate impression of this book was the extreme bias of the author, an impression that increased as I continued reading. Mabry is almost never invisible here, and his personal political voice and attempts to psychoanalyze Condoleezza Rice are intrusive to an otherwise fantastic biography.

The personal stories of Rice's roots and childhood, the fantastic collection of photos, and the description of Jim Crow Birmingham make it well worth the effort of wading through the writer's commentary. I laughed out loud at some of the stories of Rice's childhood, and I cried at the story of the church bombing. I enjoyed reading her speeches and her personal quotes. I enjoyed reading of her years of education and her "path to power." I felt I knew her.

This book had the potential to be a five-star publication had it stuck to the biography genre, with an invisible author. Excellent personal interviews, excellent research, and excellent story-telling. But as a reader I want to make my own interpretations. Just tell me the story.

Allow me to preface and say that I'm not a fan of biographies for several reasons: boring, innacurate, bias, incomplete, etc....but Marcus Mabry has done his homework and then some. Should you read this, you won't regret it and you'll walk away informed and armed with enough resources to keep any poli sci buff occupied for months (of which I AM NOT) . I'm a Republican that voted for Obama, so don't box me in and try to refrain from assumptions. I felt Mr. Mabry was unbiased, factual, and one heck of a writer ....looking forward to his next book. And BTW, this is a biography about Condoleeza Rice, not George W. Bush, not politics, and not a college course on political science - so to the reviewers that rated the book based on something for which this was book NOT intended, please think about the title of Mabry's book and the definition of biography. :)

As a huge fan of Dr. Rice and her personal accomplishments, I found this book to be a huge disappointment. The author clearly reveals his bias in the introduction claiming he had access to information about Dr. Rice because he was black and sources would be more willing to share information with him simply on that basis. What a slap at blacks as a group, and Mr. Mabry as an individual! Is Mr. Mabry saying that only Jews can write an "in depth" biography of Henry Kissinger, or Masons one on Harry Truman?

Throughout the book Mr. Mabry feels compelled to "balance" his praise for her (noteworthy) accomplishments by decrying the fact that Ms. Rice is not black enough! AS with any ethnic group, there are sub groups, and Ms. Rice should not be denigrated for being an individual who attained success AS AN INDIVIDUAL! I suppose Mr. Mabry would have taken another tact had Dr. Rice and her family been more of the "On the barricades, Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton" types. While I am taking nothing away from the Civil Rights movement and resultant accomplishments, Mr. Mabry leaves the reader feeling that Dr. Rice is lacking in some way simply because she chose another path to success!

In the end, we will have to wait for a better and more balanced treatment of Dr. Rice.

This really helped me to understand our Secretary of State. The book also provided a good review of what was happening in Birmingham during the 60's.

This is the first time I have ever reviewed a book. I felt compelled to
compliment Mr. Mabry on the thorough research he so painstakingly did for
this book. The book is easy to read and it keeps the reader interested in
the subject without getting bogged down in minutiae.

Marcus Mabry would seem the right person to write a book about Condoleezza Rice: African American with degree in political science from Stanford, overseeing the domestic and international bureaus of Newsweek. In fact, Mabry exhaustive research and interviews with family members, friends and Rice herself gives him an unique opportunity to explain Rice's childhood in Birmingham and extraordinary performance at various universities (mainly Stanford) as a teacher and administrator. Mabry is also very good on Rice's entry into government service under the first President Bush.

Mabry even makes sense of Rice's total devotion to President George W. Bush. But, this stage of the war in Iraq and the aftermath of Katrina call into question Mabry contention that Rice is unable to admit mistakes (because of her unique upbringing) and, at the same time, be totally devoted to the truth, as she sees it. Like Robert McNamara and Henry Kissenger, Rice is tied to a failed president and a failed policy/foreign war and she is incapable of admitting any mistakes, apparently even to herself. I also thought Mabry's dismissal of Senator Boxer's tough questions and Rice's non answers (during Rice's confirmation hearing as secretary of state) in Rice's favor was outdated and just plain wrong.

This book is way of control at the end when the author speculates on Rice's political future as a vice presidencial candidate for the GOP in 2008. She may have brought something to the ticket at one time, not anymore. I saw Mabry on TV taking phone calls about this book recently. He seemed very surprised at the anger in the African American community directed against Rice. Maybe Marcus Mabry was the wrong person to write this book once he interviewed Rice; she seems to have charmed him beyond reason.

The author describes the life and times of Dr. Condoleezza Rice with
both personal stories and historical events. Many of the childhood
personal stories and recitations are quite moving. For instance, the Secretary's assimilation into Stanford University was discussed . The historic contention between the State and Defense Departments was highlighted. This inter-agency competition may limit the Secretary's
options-particularly during times of war. A strength of the work highlights
areas where the organizational design of the cabinet itself could be
reconfigured or enhanced to benefit future presidencies.

Several great crises presented early in the current Administration.
For instance, Hurricane Katrina left thousands homeless in the USA.
The Asian Tsunami left thousands dead with billions of dollars in
property claims.

The aftermath of terrorist attacks in New York City cost many lives and displaced people and businesses . Sunni insurgents destroyed the Golden Dome of the Askariya Mosque- one of the holiest places of Sh'ia Islam. The Hezbollah kidnapped an Israeli soldier and the Hamas prevailed in open elections to become a voting majority.

Add to this the current Iraqi difficulties in coordinating internal security with an iterative withdrawal of the United States at some future time. The current fear centers around control of Baghdad when the United States leaves or withdraws to a position outside of the daily skirmishes between the Sunni, Sh'ia and protagonists outside of Iraq.

The peacekeeping forces (whether American, Iraqi, United Nations or a
combination of the above) in Iraq must manage historic contentions between warring factions while hoping that the conflict does not spill over into neighboring countries like Turkey or Iran. There have been significant border clashes between the Turks and the Kurds, as well as Iranian involvement in the conflict.

The challenges ahead deal with the role of the United States in the region,
as well as the transitioning of the American peacekeeping forces to
Iraqi security forces and possibly United Nations forces for the long term.
The long term vision involves the mix of security forces.

Preferably, these forces will be Iraqi with a permanent contingent of United Nations forces concurrent with an iterative phasing out of U.S.A. involvement over a rational time horizon. The work could deal in more detail with the future role of the United States in Iraq and the Secretary's current work to re-shape that role.

To obtain a verifiable ceasefire, the Sunni, Sh'ia, Kurds and mixed
communities must come to believe that they could lead a better life in
a loosely knit governance with a fair economic resource-sharing
arrangement. Right now, these parties have not internalized this goal.
And so, they are jockeying to gain the upper hand.

This process will continue until the Iraqi security apparatus develops with some assistance (preferably) from the United Nations Peacekeeping forces.
If the country ever gets to the point of a verifiable ceasefire, the next
step is to deal with governance and the return of thousands of professional
persons who fled the country for their lives and careers. These people
need to return in order to reconstitute the country from the present
disorder and destruction.

All of these events rose and continue to rise in unison to present the Secretary with an unparalleled series of challenges not seen in recent years. The work discusses the Secretary's career in government and
academia with carefully chosen events which provide a unique profile
into the experiential domain over the previous decades of service.

The author combines the Secretary's personal dynamic with the job
of Secretary of State. In these times, the job of Secretary of State
requires a facilitative persona with considerable practical and academic
acumen. Dr. Condoleezza Rice is such a person.

The book is highly recommended for students of government, politics,
journalism and academe everywhere. Events are happening so quickly
in the Middle East that a sequel to this book could be contemplated .

Condoleezza Rice may be brilliant, articulate, capable and determined, as portrayed by this in-depth biography, but I am disappointed that she is so blind and untruthful in her defense of Bush and the Iraq War. Ms. Rice has set up a not very good example--it seems that loyalty should be above truth and above the best interest of the country. By associating with Bush, defending him so forcefully, and advocating the war wrongly, Rice has lost her credibility.

Mabry brings some interesting information to his reader of one of the most despicable, incompetent, false and ruthless atavists ever to occupy the planet earth, moreover public office.

Rice's scheming adoration for saying and doing whatever it took/takes to get on the top dais of a given colosseum, in her continually pathetic and aforementioned ruthless attempt to be the cynosure-at-all-times is beyond legend. Just one glance of her souless and vengeful countenance is all it should take of any observant soul to realize the monster who lies within............ This book delicately refers to same, but, alas, not enough to adequately educate its reader.

Tragically, Rice's plan has worked to her proverbial Joesph Goebbels success and whether it's directing national/internation policy that gives new meaning to the word ignorant and imperious and, as a consequence manifesting the death of thousands and the ruination of a pragmatically imperfect (read : managable) world for the future, suppressing the truth - lying outright before the public or, eternally looking beyond embarassing in the face of various world politicos, starting with her speech impediment and then her eternal practice of obsfucation by using several thousand words to answer a simple yes or no question................, this poster child of an affirmative action poseur dilettante is a study, be it by Marcus Mabry of what "worst case scenario" truly is.