Condoleezza Rice - the next president

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A.� I wouldn't go that far. I think George W Bush probably wants to be the next president. But it seems likely that Dr Rice - known as Condi - will run as vice-president if Dick Cheney steps down.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� She's hardly an obvious Republican choice, is she

A.� On the face of it, no. She's black and she's a woman. But American commentators are saying that what makes her such an obvious choice. She would be able to claw back some of the traditional black and women's votes from the Democrats. Oh yes - and she's rather good at her job.

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Q.� Which is

A.� National security adviser. Washington insiders say Rice probably has the last word of advice with Bush after his vice-president, Dick Cheney, and secretary of state, Colin Powell, have said theirs.

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Q.� What's her background

A.� Born in Alabama, in 1954, she's an accomplished academic, provost of Stanford University, and former member of the first President Bush's foreign policy team.

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Q.� Childhood

A.� Rice grew up in segregated Birmingham, the only child of two educators who instilled in her a strong sense of family and community. Then the civil rights movement came to town. She said: 'I can remember my parents taking me to watch the marchers - they wanted us to know the history and to know what was happening.' One of her friends was among the four black girls killed when segregationists bombed a church.

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Q.� And her academic brilliance

A.� That began to show itself after her father took a job in Denver, and young Condi decided to take college courses while still in high school. Her major subject was the Soviet Union. She was taught by Professor Josef Korbel, whose daughter, Madeleine Albright, became secretary of state in the Clinton administration.

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Rice graduated with honours from the University of Denver at only 19. She began teaching at the University of Stanford in 1981. Five years later, she went to Washington on a scholarship to work on nuclear strategic planning.

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Q.� The start of a Washington career

A.� Yes. She returned to Stanford, but in 1989, Brent Scowcroft, President Bush's national security adviser, convinced her to return to DC. She quickly became one of Bush's most trusted advisers, helping craft policy in the region she had studied for so many years.

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Q.� But then came Clinton ...

A.� Yes - and Rice returned to academia, becoming Stanford's provost. During her six years there, she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer, responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students.

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Q.� After Clinton

A.� She became the assistant to the president for national security affairs, commonly referred to as the national security adviser, on 2 January, 2001.

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Of the job, she said: 'George W Bush will never allow America and our allies to be blackmailed. And make no mistake; blackmail is what the outlaw states seeking long-range ballistic missiles have in mind. It is time to move beyond the Cold War. It is time to have a president devoted to a new nuclear strategy and to the deployment of effective missile defences at the earliest possible date. George W Bush knows that America has allies and friends who share our values. As he has said, the president should call our allies when they are not needed, so that he can call upon them when they are needed.'

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Q.� Just one last thing. Her name is amazing. Where did that come from

A.� It's from the Italian musical notation 'con dolcezza' - to play with sweetness. And according to a leading columnist that's just what Dubya likes: a low-key, unruffled timbre throughout her work.

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Steve Cunningham