Recalling pivotal moments from her career on the front lines of American diplomacy and foreign policy, Rice--National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations--delivers an account of a life in service to family and country.
Rice’s behind-the-scenes take on major foreign policy challenges are fascinating ... While she prefers not to dwell on the racism and sexism of Washington, her anger comes through loud and clear. Although Rice is frank about the toll her career took on her family, she is able to look back on her experiences with pride, gratitude, and bracing realism.
Rice is clinical in her retelling of the foreign policy decisions of the Clinton and Obama administrations. And there is no attempt to neatly sew together an overarching narrative about her approach to foreign policy challenges based on her years of experience in government. In fact, that may be the lesson of her tale of 'tough love.' Public policy, Rice argues, is pragmatic, and sometimes a little dark: 'We did fail, we will fail. Our aim must be to minimize the frequency and the price of failure' ... Rice deserves credit for unsparingly owning up to her reputation as a difficult boss.
... candid ... personal and honest ... In a clear, systematic way, like the policy veteran she is, [Rice] takes each Benghazi charge leveled against her and swats it down point by point ... However, Rice is also honest about the Obama administration's foreign policy failures ... she owns up to her decisions — the good and the bad ... In many ways, this memoir is an ode to public service.
