Condoleezza Rice (born 1954) is an American diplomat, political scientist, professor, and strategic consultant. She served as U.S. National Security Advisor from 2001 to 2005 and as U.S. Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. A key member of the Bush administration’s war cabinet and a member of the White House Iraq Group, she led the "Vulcans" foreign policy advisory team during Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and is recognized as a principal architect of post-9/11 U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East. In government she processed and amplified intelligence from the intelligence community and worked closely with Zalmay Khalilzad—a fellow student of the Wohlstetter network—on policy for Afghanistan and Iraq, announcing Khalilzad's National Security Council appointment in May 2001. Specializing in international relations and Soviet studies, Rice is a professor at Stanford University, maintains strong ties to the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Since 2020 she has been director of the Hoover Institution, overseeing its research and policy initiatives. She is also a co-founding principal with Robert Gates in strategic consulting.