“When I was a child in Birmingham, we couldn’t go to a restaurant or a movie theater because we were Black, and so when you know America’s story as an American, you can go out into the world and say, ‘America is here, not because we’re perfect, as a matter of fact, we’re incredibly imperfect, but because every day we get up and we try to put another brick into the foundation of democracy, and every day, we try to extend we the people just a little bit more.”
I recently had a chance to sit down with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose perspective on the United States is unlike anyone else’s. She grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, and went on to get a PhD in Political Science, became the White House National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, and she now serves as director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. (And if that weren’t enough, she speaks multiple languages and is a concert pianist.)
I’m sharing a clip in today’s post. For the full interview, click here.
My Interview with Condoleezza Rice
Is democracy on the upswing, and what does it even mean to compromise?
March 19, 2025