SHE has been called the most powerful woman in the world, a warrior princess, a Black American version of Margaret Thatcher - and a man in a skirt.
And, perhaps more alarming than any of that, she's a fan of prog rockers Led Zeppelin!
But who exactly is Condoleezza Rice? Where did she suddenly appear from and what's with the daft name?
It could be argued that Dr Rice, Condi to her mates, really arrived on the world stage when she succeeded another person with a daft name as US secretary of state (how could we forget Colin Powell who, for some reason, people had to refer to as Co-lin, rather than Col-in?).
The name Condoleezza is derived from the Italian musical expression "Condolcezza", meaning "with sweetness".
Which some people might find ironic bearing in mind her, at times, stern and sour-faced demeanour, not to mention the fact that her opponents see her as a callous and cold-hearted warmonger who believes in dropping bombs on countries first and asking questions later.
But to understand anyone, you have to go back to where they came from. The daughter of a preacher man, Rice, 51, came from Birmingham, Alabama and was the only child of Angelena Rice, a music teacher, and the Reverend John Wesley Rice Junior.
She grew up in the days of strict racial segregation and has often said she had to be "twice as good" as non-minorities to get on in life. And yet the racism she encountered was such a part of everyday life, she says she hardly noticed it.
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