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Comment by jMyles | Hacker News Reader

By all the accounts of which I'm aware, Rice had just as much of Bush's ear during her time as NSA as Sec of State.

Do you have any reason to believe that she was in the dark in 2003?

Bob Woodward chronicled the access Rice had to Bush in his book "Bush at War"[0]. His impression matches your own. According to Woodward's account, her de facto role as National Security Advisor (before her tenure as Secretary of State) was to meet with the principals (Rumsfeld, Cheney, Powell) without the President, and then discuss alone with the President the positions of his various cabinet members. Rice met one-on-one with Bush much more often than the others, especially Powell. That said, her explicit role at the time was more about collating data and balancing priorities, not advancing her agenda. But it is definitely fair to say she had the President's ear during this period, perhaps more so than any other national security administration official.

On an semi-related note, "Bush at War" is a great, quick read about the months following 9/11, with a breathless day-by-day account of the meetings and phone calls held between the President and his advisors. Woodward had unparalleled access during this period, including multiple in-person interviews with Bush both in Washington and in Crawford. Fair warning, he does not mince words on his dissatisfaction with Bush's performance.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Bush-at-War-Bob-Woodward/dp/074324461...

> More often than not the mother was highly involved. Almost never was a nanny the primary caregiver.

Sure, if the claim had been "had Bush's ear" rather than "was a senior member of Bush's cabinet", I wouldn't have said it was factually incorrect.

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