Rice's tenure saw significant changes in U.S.–Africa policy, including the passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, support for democratic transitions in South Africa and Nigeria, and an increased U.S. focus on fighting HIV/AIDS.

A former Brookings Institution fellow, Rice served as a foreign policy advisor to Democratic presidential nominees Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, and Barack Obama.

[3] President Barack Obama instead named her national security advisor in 2013, where she supported U.S. efforts on the Iran nuclear deal of 2015, the Ebola epidemic, the reopening to Cuba, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Rice's tenure saw significant changes in U.S.-Africa policy, including the passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, support for democratic transitions in South Africa and Nigeria, and an increased U.S. focus on fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"[20] Later in 2012, during an interview with The New Republic, Rice stated "To suggest that I'm repenting for [Rwanda] or that I'm haunted by that or that I don't sleep at night because of that or that every policy I've implemented subsequently is driven by that is garbage.

[22] Similar allegations were made by Vanity Fair contributing editor David Rose[23] and Richard Miniter, author of Losing Bin Laden.

[24] The allegations against Rice were determined to be unfounded by the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 and the 9/11 Commission, which found no evidence that Sudan ever made an offer to share intelligence on bin Laden.

For her efforts she was named a co-recipient of the White House's Samuel Nelson Drew Memorial Award for "distinguished contributions to the formation of peaceful, cooperative relationships between nations," alongside Gayle Smith and Anthony Lake.

[31][7]: 183 Rice had a contentious relationship with State Department veteran Richard Holbrooke, whom she considered to be meddling on her turf and who in return felt she was rising too quickly in U.S. diplomatic ranks.

[34][35] From 2002 to 2009, she was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where "she focused on U.S. foreign policy, weak and failing states, the implications of global poverty, and transnational threats to security.

The George W. Bush administration frankly owes the American public a much fuller and more honest assessment of what the costs will be of the actual conflict, as well as the aftermath, the post-conflict reconstruction.

[32] Rice criticized Obama's Republican opponent in the campaign, John McCain, calling his policies "reckless" and dismissing the Arizona senator's trip to Iraq as "strolling around the market in a flak jacket.

[52][53] Rice won praise for leading the Security Council to impose the toughest sanctions to date on Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs, and for reaffirming U.S. commitment to the UN and multilateralism.

According to David Rothkopf of Foreign Policy, Rice could be challenging to work with due to her "toughness"—in the mold of James Baker or Henry Kissinger—but had the asset of a close relationship with the U.S. president and proved to be an effective policymaker.

Some human rights activists took issue with Rice and U.S. foreign policy generally in 2012 for working against UN statements that criticized Rwanda for supporting a rebel group in Congo known for committing atrocities.

[55] As the 2011 Libyan Civil War progressed, the United States and its allies offered a choice for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his aides: step down from power or face an international response.

[58][59][60] Together with National Security Council figure Samantha Power, who already supported the U.S.-led military intervention in Libya, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who came to support it, the three overcame internal opposition from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, security adviser Thomas E. Donilon, and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, to have the administration advance a UN proposal to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and authorize other military actions as necessary.

[19][62] Rice said, "we are interested in a broad range of actions that will effectively protect civilians and increase the pressure on the Gaddafi regime to halt the killing and to allow the Libyan people to express themselves in their aspirations for the future freely and peacefully.

"[63] In January 2012, after the Russian and Chinese veto of a Security Council resolution calling on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down, Rice strongly condemned both countries, saying, "They put a stake in the heart of efforts to resolve this conflict peacefully," and adding that "we the United States are standing with the people of Syria.

[66] Each of the 11 drafts of CIA talking points maintained that the attack was "spontaneously inspired" by a violent protest at the American embassy in Cairo, Egypt, hours earlier, which had been triggered by the release of an anti-Muslim video.

The Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee's two-year investigation found that CIA analysts had erred and that there was no conclusive evidence showing that Rice or any other government official acted in bad faith or intentionally misled the American people.

[70] A group of 97 House Republicans sent a letter to Obama on November 19 to say Rice's statements were "misleading" and that she should accordingly not be considered a candidate to succeed Hillary Clinton in 2013 as secretary of state.

[77] During her tenure, she supported major U.S. efforts on the Iran nuclear deal of 2015, Ebola epidemic, reopening to Cuba, fight against the Islamic State, and Paris Agreement on climate change.

"[79] Rice criticized human rights violations in U.S.-aligned Egypt and condemned the August 2013 Rabaa massacre, in which Egyptian security forces killed over 1,000 people during mass anti-government protests.

[80][81] In response, Rice led a review of U.S. assistance to Egypt, which resulted in the cancellation of planned joint military exercises and suspension of arms shipments.

[7]: 351 Rice was the lone dissenter in Obama's national security team on his decision to seek congressional authorization for military strikes against Syria's chemical weapons facilities, following the Assad regime's use of sarin gas against civilians in August 2013.

The Obama administration made clear that Rice's trip was part of regularly scheduled talks and that the stalled Middle East peace discussions were not on the agenda.

Dennis Ross, one of Obama's Middle East advisors, criticized Rice's "combative mind-set" as opposed to her predecessor, Tom Donilon, who played a more conciliatory role.

[131] In April 2023, journalist Hannah Dreier suggested in a New York Times article that Rice was among the leading White House officials who may have been negligent in response to the uncovered migrant child labor crisis.

[140] Rice married former ABC News executive producer Ian Officer Cameron[141] on September 12, 1992, at the St. Albans School chapel in Washington D.C.[17] They met as students at Stanford[142] and have two children.