A glowing new biography of Condoleezza Rice paints the former Stanford provost as an inspirational figure that Christians and conservatives should follow by example.

In her fourth year as President George W. Bush’s secretary of state, Rice’s legacy is very much up for debate. “Condi: The Life of a Steel Magnolia” joins an emerging genre of what might be called “Condi-Lit.” In the last year, top reporters from the Washington Post, The New York Times and Newsweek have taken successful whacks at in-depth books on the consequential African-American, Republican woman from Alabama.

News Analysis

Author Mary Beth Brown, who previously wrote a bestselling book on Ronald Reagan’s faith, describes herself on the flyleaf of “Condi” as a former delegate to Republican conventions, a guest on Fox News and a frequent speaker to Christian and conservative audiences.

Though the book adds nothing in the way of meaningful scholarship, Brown’s gushing portrayal serves to demonstrate the continuing popularity of Rice among the president’s base. It also reminds observers why — even though she continues to insist she will return to Stanford in 2009 — Rice may be a formidable politician after Bush leaves office next January.

A political future?

The book is not slated for release until Jan. 15. But several copies — selling at the full $26 retail price — were available near the Stanford Bookstore’s entrance on Wednesday.

The 319-page ode to Rice cites no primary sources. Instead, Brown claims to have read more than 200,000 pages of “transcripts, interviews, and original documents.”

Brown claims Rice will “quite likely” be a vice presidential nominee.

“Not only has Condi proven herself as a loyal member of the Bush team, a skilled diplomat, a fine teacher and administrator, a lady of glamour, and a woman of character and faith, she has the rare and priceless ability to lead and inspire nations,” Brown concludes. “Of course, she’s a black woman too. If she were elected, it would be a triumph of the principles on which the nation was founded.”

Rice is portrayed as ideal for elected office. Brown highlights Rice’s 1992 speech to the Republican National Convention, also noting that Rice was on the short list to fill Pete Wilson’s U.S. Senate seat when he was elected governor of California in 1990.

Rehashing Rice’s time at Stanford

Two of the 13 chapters in Brown’s book are about Rice’s tenure at Stanford. The first, titled “Professor Rice,” focuses on her evolution from an arms-control fellow in 1980 to a George H.W. Bush appointee in 1988. The second, “Tackling a Monstrous Deficit,” attempts to put a positive spin on Rice’s controversial tenure as provost.

For her sections on Rice’s time on the Farm, Brown relies heavily on articles from the University’s News Service, Stanford Magazine (which she erroneously calls “the school newspaper”), The Daily and previously published profiles in national publications. There are a handful of missing citations in the endnotes.

Even the book’s subtitle, “The Life of a Steel Magnolia,” comes from a story that ran in The Stanford Report in June 1999, when Prof. Coit Blacker described his close friend Rice as a steel magnolia.

“She has a wonderful kind of Southern affect in the positive sense, a kind of graciousness,” Blacker said. “But mixed with this is a very steely inner core. She always knows what she wants and is extremely disciplined, both at personal and professional levels.”

Attributing her success to faith

Faith, in Brown’s view, was pivotal at turning points in Rice’s life. Brown says that Rice’s church attendance during her early years at Stanford was “sporadic.”

“Then a provincial encounter brought Condi back to church,” she explains, noting that Rice met a man who got her involved with a Baptist church in Palo Alto.

Rice would soon decide to attend Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Bizarrely, Brown identifies that church as being in Palo Alto. It was there, Brown writes, that a sermon on the prodigal son prompted Rice to recommit “herself to the Lord, not just for Sundays, but for every day.”

Creating a legend of Rice

Brown draws parallels between Rice and Reagan.

“Besides being often underestimated, they can take difficult and complex issues and explain them in language which people understand,” she writes, using the present tense to describe Reagan, who died in 2004. “They are both optimists and visionaries. They are able to share optimism with others as they paint a picture of what is possible, and this skill they share gives people hope. Both are strong people of faith who trust in the providence of God.”