Rice first black US secy of state

The first black American woman appointed secretary of state and just the second woman tapped for the position, Rice, who turned 50 on Sunday, served as Bush's foreign policy tutor during his 2000 campaign for the White House.

Announcing Tuesday that the woman he calls "Condi" had been named to take over from Colin Powell, Bush said: "The secretary of state is America's face to the world, and in Dr. Rice the world will see the strength, the grace and the decency of our country.

"During the last four years I've relied on her counsel, benefited from her great experience, and appreciated her sound and steady judgment," Bush added.

If confirmed by the Senate as expected, Rice would be only the second woman to hold the top cabinet post after Madeleine Albright, whose father, a university professor, persuaded Rice to abandon a career as a concert pianist to study international relations.

Rice, who was also the second female US national security advisor, has been admiringly called a "steel magnolia" and "warrior princess."

A popular member of the Bush administration, Rice has her share of detractors, including former top US counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke, who accused her of failing to take strong enough action against al-Qaeda before the September 11 attacks.

Rice has also received some criticism for her coordination of foreign policy between the strong personalities of outgoing secretary of state Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former CIA director George Tenet.

Rice's intellectual brilliance is undisputed but many Americans also wonder how a black woman born into segregation in the deep US south allied herself with one of the most conservative administrations of the past 25 years.