The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy
by Glenn Kessler
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Book Summary Information
Author: Glenn KesslerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-04
ISBN: 031236380X
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780312363802
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy
Book Review: The Diplomatic Fashion Runway
Summary: 4 Stars
No one denies that Condi Rice is a talented and hard-working diplomat, but Kessler's excellent book chronicles a series of missed diplomatic opportunities during her tenure, inviting one to consider how effective Rice has been as Secretary of State during Bush's second term. Rice initially built a strong and brilliant team under deputy secretary Robert Zoellick, and some of the success stories Kessler describes took place while Zoellick was at the helm.
While Rice had a public profile and was popular with the public during her time on the NSC, once she ascended to role of Secretary of State, she sought systematically to raise her public profile, and to do so largely through a series of media spalshes accompanied by high fashion statements. Rice focused heavily on image. Perhaps the most salient example of a woman in power who used fashion to great effect is Margaret Thatcher, who was a relentless implementer; Kessler demonstrates that once Rice launched initiatives, her execution and implementation were weak, and apparently style trumped substance. Rice does dress the part, carries it off well, and clearly enjoys being a leading fashionista. Dean Acheson also dressed extremely well, but this was probably secondary to his diplomatic skill, and in any case his sartorial statements were not on prominent media display during his trips abroad, although I imagine had he appeared for dinner in Saudi Arabia, as Rice did, wearing flowing white slik with gold pinstripes threaded through the fabric, that would have changed quickly. But if the most innovative fashion statement conservatives can muster is the adoption the solid-color necktie look pioneered by James Baker, then we should welcome Rice's attempts to raise the bar.
While Rice is known to be extremely bright, she appears to compensate for a lack of strategic intellectual firepower with a highly developed sense of performance. Splendid performances can go a long way in diplomacy, it seems, but Rice's tenure has been marked by unlucky breaks and wrong-footed initiatives which Kessler does an outstanding job of covering, while simultaneously guiding us through some of the major foreign policy challenges of the last few years with skill and brevity. The book's title, however, suggests that a more detailed examination of the Rice-Bush relationship would be on offer, with insight into how she became so influential with Bush, if indeed she is exceptionally influential with the President. Here the book falls short, but is nonetheless an essential read for anyone seeking to understand Rice's leadership, or lack of it, during a few turbulent years. Interestingly, as she was provost of a highly complex university and managed a stable of world-class talent, she seems to have brought no managerial skill at all to the running of the Department of State, neglecting to tap the vast resources available there and demonstrating her tacit acceptance of the Bush style of a closed inner circle that doesn't look beyond its own resources or mental models. Rice brings to the table an outstanding set of personal and intellectual qualities, but if Kessler's book is accurate, she may not have the chops to take on a future leadership role in electoral politics. One can only wish her well in the remaining months of her term, but Kessler provides little comfort that major breakthroughs are to be expected, particularly in the mid-east, where Rice has declared her intent to bring peace and stability, and realize the President's stated goal of fostering a Palestinian state. Even now, her role in managing other issues, such as those presented by Iran, seems less than siginficant.
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