Susan Rice is at the centre of Republican criticism over the White House's handling of the consulate attack in Libya. She's pitted to become the next Secretary of State, but who is US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice?
Rice was a foreign policy advisor to then Senator Obama, during his 2008 Presidential bid. The 42- year- old is known for her blunt and to-the-point speaking style. But CNN's foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott, says that could work to her favour. "Her supporters say, 'Yes, she's a tough-talker, but with her, you know where you stand.' She says exactly what you think, and sometimes that can be helpful."
Rice was born to a prominent Washington family and is a Stanford graduate and Rhodes scholar.
She got her start in politics as a foreign policy aide in Michael Dukakis' 1998 Presidential campaign. Rice later served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under President Clinton and was a National Security Council staff during the genocide in Rwanda.
Between government posts, Rice was a scholar at the Brookings Institution public policy organisation in Washington. Michael O'Hanlon from the Brookings Institution says Rice is intellectual as well as political.
"She's no just party-hack or rubber-stamper for Obama. She actually is a kindred intellectual spirit and helped him develop many of his ideas that he later ran on for president. I think that's part of why they are so close intellectually and personally."
However some have accused her of lying in relation to the US embassy attack in Libya.
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