agruenbaum's review against another edition
4.0
Another one I listened to. A good review on the Bush presidency.
danicapage's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I listened on audio and I did not realize how long the book was until I got into it.
I may have been more hesitant had I known how long it was before starting.
I enjoyed this one. The reason it’s so long is because she was at the White House for 8 years and she talked about a LOT. A lot happened in those eight years.
I appreciated hearing Rice’s take on things. It was informative and interesting.
I listened on audio and I did not realize how long the book was until I got into it.
I may have been more hesitant had I known how long it was before starting.
I enjoyed this one. The reason it’s so long is because she was at the White House for 8 years and she talked about a LOT. A lot happened in those eight years.
I appreciated hearing Rice’s take on things. It was informative and interesting.
__karen__'s review against another edition
3.0
This book is very long and detailed. Several sections felt verbose to me until I realized the author assumed the reader might be not be familiar with various government functions and legal requirements. For those readers who are (familiar), I’d suggest bypassing this book unless specifically interested in Ms. Rice’s take on various events.
meganmiller858's review against another edition
4.0
Great on audio. Loved learning more about Condoleezza's life.
tmaluck's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story a million spinning plates.
Rice, her national security and state department staffs, and everyone in their network accomplished a dozen miracles of diplomacy per day. Sometimes those plates had to do with American military conflicts and strategies. Sometimes those plates carried incentives, both to keep some countries in line and to encourage others to flourish.
I did not enjoy this book because of some political bias or a need to see my political worldview justified. In fact, before I started reading the Cheney/Bush/Rice trilogy, I had a decidedly venomous opinion about their work in office (depending on the issue, I still do). But Rice writes about international affairs with such a respect for context and spelling out the decision-making process that I found her eight years with the Bush administration fascinating. She was clearly the brightest bulb of the three and her office did much of the heavy lifting to maintain and generate America's alliances.
There are passages that amount to little more than "we wanted to meet X world leader, so we scheduled a meeting and I spoke to X and we-said-X-said and we decided to visit again later." The dryness of some of the diplomatic stories in the book are where I deduct a star, though I appreciate that any accurate or worthwhile account of Rice's time in office would have to be a tome.
Rice admits to how she personally felt about meetings with heads of state, whether she was bored/frustrated with an ineffective negotiation or beaming about a genuine opportunity. There are also passages where Rice reflects on how she lived during those eight pressure-sealed years, from her workouts to finding pockets of time to maintain her sanity.
Competency as a secretary of state means wheeling & dealing with just about every other state on the planet, a feat that evidently requires no less than personal and staff-appointed genius intellects to keep all of the details straight. Every nation has a past, present, and future to mind, as well as neighboring interests as compared to America's and oh by the way the media will report results, not intentions, so get everything right the first time.
Far from preaching a conservative agenda, Rice's accounts of international affairs sound more like an ultraliberal's wet dream: America plays World Cop to the point that Rice starts to ask herself if something can go wrong in the world without America having to send troops/aid to alleviate. There are passages addressing how Iraq and Afghanistan developed, with all of the frustrations and political maneuvering that go with the territory of nation-building. Or, as portrayed here, nation-encouraging-but-not-forcing-but-deploying-troops. Whether the interventions she brought to pass were ultimately wise or self-destructive will have to be proven over decades.
I seriously respect how little mention Rice gave to veterans in this book. I say that because in Cheney's book, he goes out of his way to reiterate how invaluable and amazing all American soldiers are, and... those passages don't serve his memoir. They sound more like he's paying respects to his respect for the troops, like he's proving something to the reader. Rice mentions visiting wounded veterans at the hospital, but she doesn't launch into repeated lip services for sacrifices she didn't have to make, and I respect that. She visited troops, and that's all she should have to say.
Some of my favorite passages came from Rice either being aware of or blind to how the media would portray her. When asked to participate in a musical skit as her predecessors in State had done (Colin Powell performing YMCA? Madeleine Albright singing from Evita?), Rice was hyper-aware of Youtube's existence and was prepared to flat-out refuse, but instead played some Brahms on piano. By the way, Rice is a gifted pianist and found some opportunities to tickle the ivories while in office, no biggie. On the other side of the coin, Rice had incidents where her actions reflected poorly in the context of a major event. For example, after enjoying a day off and seeing "Spamalot," Hurricane Katrina devastated the country, leading to the Drudge Report depicting her as laughing off the hurricane.
Rice's memoir gives me a greater appreciation for the work of the Bush administration outside of the "War in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, renditions" refrains I hear from people who sneer at this book. Yes, those are major issues, and they get their (not fully fleshed out) treatments in this book. But the larger picture was definitely worth discovering, and I recommend this book head and shoulders over Bush and Cheney's.
Rice, her national security and state department staffs, and everyone in their network accomplished a dozen miracles of diplomacy per day. Sometimes those plates had to do with American military conflicts and strategies. Sometimes those plates carried incentives, both to keep some countries in line and to encourage others to flourish.
I did not enjoy this book because of some political bias or a need to see my political worldview justified. In fact, before I started reading the Cheney/Bush/Rice trilogy, I had a decidedly venomous opinion about their work in office (depending on the issue, I still do). But Rice writes about international affairs with such a respect for context and spelling out the decision-making process that I found her eight years with the Bush administration fascinating. She was clearly the brightest bulb of the three and her office did much of the heavy lifting to maintain and generate America's alliances.
There are passages that amount to little more than "we wanted to meet X world leader, so we scheduled a meeting and I spoke to X and we-said-X-said and we decided to visit again later." The dryness of some of the diplomatic stories in the book are where I deduct a star, though I appreciate that any accurate or worthwhile account of Rice's time in office would have to be a tome.
Rice admits to how she personally felt about meetings with heads of state, whether she was bored/frustrated with an ineffective negotiation or beaming about a genuine opportunity. There are also passages where Rice reflects on how she lived during those eight pressure-sealed years, from her workouts to finding pockets of time to maintain her sanity.
Competency as a secretary of state means wheeling & dealing with just about every other state on the planet, a feat that evidently requires no less than personal and staff-appointed genius intellects to keep all of the details straight. Every nation has a past, present, and future to mind, as well as neighboring interests as compared to America's and oh by the way the media will report results, not intentions, so get everything right the first time.
Far from preaching a conservative agenda, Rice's accounts of international affairs sound more like an ultraliberal's wet dream: America plays World Cop to the point that Rice starts to ask herself if something can go wrong in the world without America having to send troops/aid to alleviate. There are passages addressing how Iraq and Afghanistan developed, with all of the frustrations and political maneuvering that go with the territory of nation-building. Or, as portrayed here, nation-encouraging-but-not-forcing-but-deploying-troops. Whether the interventions she brought to pass were ultimately wise or self-destructive will have to be proven over decades.
I seriously respect how little mention Rice gave to veterans in this book. I say that because in Cheney's book, he goes out of his way to reiterate how invaluable and amazing all American soldiers are, and... those passages don't serve his memoir. They sound more like he's paying respects to his respect for the troops, like he's proving something to the reader. Rice mentions visiting wounded veterans at the hospital, but she doesn't launch into repeated lip services for sacrifices she didn't have to make, and I respect that. She visited troops, and that's all she should have to say.
Some of my favorite passages came from Rice either being aware of or blind to how the media would portray her. When asked to participate in a musical skit as her predecessors in State had done (Colin Powell performing YMCA? Madeleine Albright singing from Evita?), Rice was hyper-aware of Youtube's existence and was prepared to flat-out refuse, but instead played some Brahms on piano. By the way, Rice is a gifted pianist and found some opportunities to tickle the ivories while in office, no biggie. On the other side of the coin, Rice had incidents where her actions reflected poorly in the context of a major event. For example, after enjoying a day off and seeing "Spamalot," Hurricane Katrina devastated the country, leading to the Drudge Report depicting her as laughing off the hurricane.
Rice's memoir gives me a greater appreciation for the work of the Bush administration outside of the "War in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, renditions" refrains I hear from people who sneer at this book. Yes, those are major issues, and they get their (not fully fleshed out) treatments in this book. But the larger picture was definitely worth discovering, and I recommend this book head and shoulders over Bush and Cheney's.
holtfan's review against another edition
5.0
Being an ambitious and overly-confident 8-year-old, I used to feel quite jealous of Condoleezza Rice. I had set my eyes on becoming the first female president and my family supported that ambition. But occasionally, my Dad would say he hoped Condoleezza Rice would become the first female president. Obviously this was defection of the highest order. But now that I'm older, wiser, and not White House inclined, I have to agree with him. Dr. Rice is an incredible woman and would make a fantastic president. Her story is inspiring and No Higher Honor, despite its nearly 800 pages, definitely left me wanting more.
I've been eyeing this intimidatingly long memoir for a while now but it took Jeremiah's recommendation to get me to finally pick it up. And am I glad I did! This was an unexpectedly enjoyable read. It breaks into a general but through overview of the foreign policy that defined the 8 years of George W. Bush's presidency. At least in the circles I run in, I tend to think of those years mainly for the legacy of No Child Left Behind or maybe in a pinch the war in Iraq. But a lot happened internationally, including the seeds of the Arab Spring, and it is eye-opening to be reminded of it all. My own political awareness only started really burgeoning in 2008, but nevertheless the moments described in this book defined much of my childhood, and I found it striking to read about them from the perspective of someone who lived and influenced much of what happened.
My biggest complaint is that I wanted more Condoleezza Rice. This is not a memoir where the writer gets in the way of her subject. At the same time, it made the occasional stories and glimpses of Dr. Rice's experience all the more precious. Here she was, a single, black woman changing history as Secretary of State. And sometimes, she does reference the unique role that gave her, mentioning meetings very traditional Islamic rulers or her role in responding to the race issue in Hurricane Katrina. But more often, she tells the tale of sweeping revolutions and social machinations without making it about her perspective. She just lets it shine through, without needing to bring special attention to it. And because of that, I found I listened closer to see how she engaged with her male colleagues or dealt with confrontation or handled being a single woman in politics.
Definitely a new favorite and one to explore again in the future.
I've been eyeing this intimidatingly long memoir for a while now but it took Jeremiah's recommendation to get me to finally pick it up. And am I glad I did! This was an unexpectedly enjoyable read. It breaks into a general but through overview of the foreign policy that defined the 8 years of George W. Bush's presidency. At least in the circles I run in, I tend to think of those years mainly for the legacy of No Child Left Behind or maybe in a pinch the war in Iraq. But a lot happened internationally, including the seeds of the Arab Spring, and it is eye-opening to be reminded of it all. My own political awareness only started really burgeoning in 2008, but nevertheless the moments described in this book defined much of my childhood, and I found it striking to read about them from the perspective of someone who lived and influenced much of what happened.
My biggest complaint is that I wanted more Condoleezza Rice. This is not a memoir where the writer gets in the way of her subject. At the same time, it made the occasional stories and glimpses of Dr. Rice's experience all the more precious. Here she was, a single, black woman changing history as Secretary of State. And sometimes, she does reference the unique role that gave her, mentioning meetings very traditional Islamic rulers or her role in responding to the race issue in Hurricane Katrina. But more often, she tells the tale of sweeping revolutions and social machinations without making it about her perspective. She just lets it shine through, without needing to bring special attention to it. And because of that, I found I listened closer to see how she engaged with her male colleagues or dealt with confrontation or handled being a single woman in politics.
Definitely a new favorite and one to explore again in the future.
ajhampton0524's review against another edition
3.0
Revealing, though not overly so. Feels like an academic being cautious and conspicuously not drawing direct conclusions.
canada_matt's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoy political memoirs, especially if they are well-written. Rice uses her time in Washington to weave countless tales and gives many behind the scenes details I would not have otherwise known. She brings to life what some may call an 'eight year conservative reign of terror fighting' and does so less in a lap-dog sense, choosing to show the reader that she can and does think for herself.
Having recently read Dick Cheney's memoirs of the same period, I am amazed at how different these two Bush stalwarts actually tend to be. Rice minces no words in her sometimes lack of respect and agreement with what the VP did and said, using her scholarly background to make it seem as though it was compliments, not outright bashing. Rice is much more thorough and gives off the air of having the president's ear a lot more than the VP.
While the book did go on for pages and pages about some of the minutae surrounding North Korea, the Middle East, and even Africa. Of course, these were some of the legacies that Bush and Rice left behind and she has full right to praise herself for some of the controversies.
Well done, Dr. Rice. I liked it oh so much and hope other memoirs pop up soon to whet my appetitie.
Having recently read Dick Cheney's memoirs of the same period, I am amazed at how different these two Bush stalwarts actually tend to be. Rice minces no words in her sometimes lack of respect and agreement with what the VP did and said, using her scholarly background to make it seem as though it was compliments, not outright bashing. Rice is much more thorough and gives off the air of having the president's ear a lot more than the VP.
While the book did go on for pages and pages about some of the minutae surrounding North Korea, the Middle East, and even Africa. Of course, these were some of the legacies that Bush and Rice left behind and she has full right to praise herself for some of the controversies.
Well done, Dr. Rice. I liked it oh so much and hope other memoirs pop up soon to whet my appetitie.
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