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Gold9472
01-22-2009, 11:56 AM
Rice signs with talent agency to pitch books, media -- and sports

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rice_signs_with_talent_agency_to_0122.html

(Gold9472: She belongs in prison.)

John Byrne
Published: Thursday January 22, 2009
The Bush Administration has left the building.

If it weren't clear enough from the garrulous TV news coverage, one of the top US talent agencies has announced Wednesday they've signed America's once highest-ranking diplomat, Condoleezza Rice, to deliver speeches for books, lectures, communications, media and sports.

Sports.

Jim Wiatt, chairman and CEO of The William Morris Agency, told the Hollywood Reporter's Paul Gough Wednesday that Rice was a hot commodity sought after by agencies. Prior to her appointment as National Security Adviser in the firm term of President George W. Bush's presidency, Rice served as provost of Stanford University and headed Chevron's committee on public policy.

"It was certainly a competitive situation," Wiatt, chairman and CEO of The William Morris Agency, told Gough. "She was very thorough about the process and who she would feel most comfortable with and who would be speaking on her behalf."

Wiatt indicated it's unlikely that the former Secretary of State would be making the formal lecture circuit, where she'd be paid by various audiences to speak.

The co-chief operating officer for William Morris in New York was quoted as saying that the firm was struck by the breadth of Rice's manifold interests -- including her penchant for music and the NFL.

Rice is a trained concert pianist.

"It's more than just books, it's much more than just lectures," William Morris' executive said. "We're here to help her create and enhance an agenda that is very important to her in her post-government career."

Rice's public popularity remained relatively strong during her tenure at the White House, at least by comparison to other administration officials.

Her popularity was also reflected in an apparently impromptu decision to name a 129,000 ton Chevron oil tanker after her in 2001. Chevron later reversed the decision and rechristened the ship Alistair Voyager amid worries that the tanker's name would make Rice's ties to the oil industry too explicit.

Rice's name has been floated as a potential Republican candidate for president, and she has repeatedly denied that she'll seek the nation's highest office. She's recognized, perhaps most of all, for her 2003 quote in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."