President Bush this week nominated his national security adviser,Condoleezza Rice, to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state.Mister Powell resigned.

Condoleezza Rice has had a long relationship with the Bushfamily. She worked on the National Security Council when PresidentBush's father was president. She is an expert on the former SovietUnion and Eastern Europe.

She became a political science professor at Stanford Universityin California in the nineteen eighties. Later Condoleezza Rice was atop administrator there.

She advised George W. Bush duringthe two thousand presidential campaign. Once in office, he appointedher his national security adviser. This week he named her deputy,Steven Hadley, to replace her.

Condoleezza Rice had her fiftieth birthday last Sunday. She wasborn in Birmingham, Alabama, during the time of racial separationlaws in the South. She is a classical pianist and an ice skater, andis known as a big sports fan.

"Condi" Rice, as she is known, would be the first AfricanAmerican woman as America's top diplomat. The only other woman wasMadeleine Albright, appointed by President Bill Clinton.

President Bush called Secretary Powell "one of the great publicservants of our time." Colin Powell was a solder in the Vietnam War.Later, as a general, he served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff. He also served for a time as national security adviser whenRonald Reagan was president.

Yet his moderate positions on issues like Iraq often clashed withthose of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld.

For the past four years, Condoleezza Rice has not said muchpublicly about her opinions. She is considered more conservative onforeign policy than Colin Powell. But critics say she did not doenough to ease tensions between the State Department and the DefenseDepartment. She was also criticized for the way the administrationdealt with terrorism threats before the attacks of Septembereleventh, two thousand one.

Condoleezza Rice is expected to win Senate conformation as thenext secretary of state. Some people say her strong ties to MisterBush will be helpful because governments will know she speaks forthe president. Others say they worry that she will be less open todissenting opinions and debate because of her loyalty.

President Bush announced her nomination on Tuesday. That was aday after the White House announced the resignation of Colin Powelland the secretaries of agriculture, energy and education. CommerceSecretary Don Evans and Attorney General John Ashcroft resignedearlier.

Among the replacements nominated are White House counsel AlbertoGonzales as the new attorney general. The president also chose hisdomestic policy adviser, Margaret Spellings, as secretary ofeducation.

In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk.I'm Steve Ember.