Condoleezza Rice's Memoir

Extraordinary, Ordinary People by Condoleezza Rice

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


If want to read this book for answers to those nagging questions like:

Where was the National Security Advisor on September 11, 2001? (I watched TV non-stop for days, and I never heard a statement from the NSA) You won't find it in this book.

OR

What was she thinking when no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found? You won't find it in this book.

Remember the title is, "Extraordinary, Ordinary Family: A Memoir of Family." I knew that but one can hope, can't one. By the time I read 75% of the book and Condi hadn't finished High School, I knew I wouldn't get my answers. This book is about growing up with two wonderful parents who did everything they could to prepare their child for greatness. Her mother passed away in 1985, and her father passed away three days before Christmas 2000.

We all remember the election of November 2000. So after John Rice passed away, his daughter went off to Washington to become National Security Advisor...end of story.

We do get a glimpse into the formation of certain values held by Dr. Rice, how she became a Republican, why she opposes gun control, and why she supports affirmative action. Her parents raised a feisty little girl who was allowed to speak her mind on issues of religion, politics, where she should go to school and what extra-curricular activities she should focus on. It was an upbringing that gave her the strength to stand her ground with international leaders, ask hard, and sometimes rude (by her own admission) questions.

She does allow us past her very private exterior into her life at the time she was Provost of Stanford University. When she left that job she called it the best job she had ever had. Much of her professional life during that time was widely publicized in student forums, newspaper editorials, and not subject to being stamped "Classified."

You should know that Condoleezza wrote two memoirs in the same year. The other one is entitled, "Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me" and is intended for a Young Adult audience, and was published by Delacorte Press, and imprint of Random House Children's Books.





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