Susan Rice and Condoleezza Rice Are Not Related, but They Have Some Things in Common

When they were appointed to their respective posts, Condoleezza Rice and Susan Rice were both breaking new ground inside the U.S. government. Condoleezza and Susan are two of the most powerful Black women in the history of America, and both of them served in roles related to foreign affairs.

Now, many are wondering whether Condoleezza and Susan are related, given their shared last name and their similar profiles. Here's what we know about whether the similarities between them have anything to do with a shared family history.

Susan and Condoleezza are not related, and their shared last name is merely a coincidence. Susan, who served as Barack Obama's National Security Advisor, and Condoleezza, who served as George W. Bush's Secretary of State, were both in the world of diplomacy. Condoleezza is a full decade older than Susan and was born in Birmingham, Al., while Susan was born in Washington, D.C.

Although the two have a shared diplomatic background, they undoubtedly disagree on many core areas of how American foreign policy should be managed. Condoleezza served under a Republican administration and was often tied to the war in Iraq. Susan, by contrast, was a key actor in organizing the withdrawal from Iraq that happened during the Obama administration.

Because they were groundbreaking Black women in areas of government that have been traditionally dominated by white men, both Condoleezza and Susan faced their fair share of discrimination and unfair attacks before and during their appointments.

Donald Rumsfeld suggested that Condoleezza was young and inexperienced and that she didn't know her place, even though the two were ostensibly colleagues.

"He would become frustrated when my staff would reach out to military officers in the Pentagon to coordinate the particulars of a policy among the agencies," she once explained. "This was a routine responsibility for the NSC, but for some reason, Don interpreted such actions as a violation of his authority."

Thanks to her ties to the Bush administration, Condoleezza also became a polarizing figure within the Black community.

Susan also faced discrimination throughout her career, although she says that she was raised from a young age to never use that as an excuse.

She has also been outspoken about the plight of Black people in America more generally, and once claimed that the U.S. had lost trillions of dollars in potential wealth because of its insistence on discriminating against Black people throughout its history.

While Susan and Condoleezza may have some superficial similarities in the broad swaths of their careers, the details of what each woman believes are actually quite distinct.

After all, the Obama administration was elected in part because of backlash to Bush's policies, so it's only fitting that Obama's chief deputies would have fervent disagreements. The two of them may not be related, but they both exist in the relatively small world of top-tier Washington, D.C. politics.