Rice's Management at Issue

Some State veterans compare Rice's management unfavorably with that of Powell, who was secretary during Bush's first term. Powell held large staff meetings daily; Rice cut those to three per week. And twice a week, she holds smaller meetings with undersecretaries and key regional assistant secretaries. Unlike Powell, who was an avid e-mailer, Rice does not use e-mail.

Powell worked closely with his deputy, Richard L. Armitage, who by all accounts carried the bulk of the management load. Armitage tried to make sure decision memos were acted on within 24 hours, whereas under Rice such memos may languish for days, a former official said.

"Powell did spend time on management issues," said John R. Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations, who served under Powell and Rice and whose new book, "Surrender Is Not an Option," is critical of how Rice has directed foreign policy. "Rice is typical of secretaries of state in that they generally don't pay attention to management issues," Bolton said.

For any manager of a large organization, making sure problems come to the attention of top officials is critical. When Powell became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he handed out rules to his staff, including "Bad news doesn't get any better with time" and "If there is a problem brewing, I want to know of it early." Some officials think that problems at State have trouble coming to Rice's attention early enough.

Another official who served under both secretaries said Powell asked more detailed questions when facing bad news. "You could not have a greater contrast between two people," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he still deals with the government. "He had a style in which people were encouraged to talk about their problems."

A third official who served under both secretaries recalled how, after an assistant secretary of state made a mistake resulting in several days of negative news coverage, Powell treated that person with civility. By contrast, the official said, Rice becomes angry over even minor news accounts, turning furiously to the relevant assistant secretary for an explanation. "Dressing someone down like that is not great for morale and does not encourage people to bring up bad news," he said.

In a change that may have limited Rice's exposure to the rest of the building, Rice moved news conferences to the fancier higher floors of State's headquarters. While Powell held news media sessions outside -- after escorting out foreign officials -- Rice wanted a more dignified venue. Powell, after meeting with the media, chatted with workers in the lobby, reaching out to lower-level staff.

Senior officials disagree that Rice is isolated. "As secretary, you get information because you ask questions and you don't lock the door," said Pat Kennedy, director of State's office of management policy and a nominee for undersecretary for management. "She is open to discussion, and in the meetings she asks pointed questions."

Lawmakers have questioned why Rice has not anticipated potential problems. On the passport issue, for example, the State Department had estimated that passport applications would increase 33 percent because of new travel rules, but they jumped 51 percent instead, leaving State unable to handle the load. Rice forced 300 junior diplomats to give up their summer jobs to process passport applications and ordered that systems be streamlined to prepare for future surges.

Though there had been a number of deadly incidents involving contract security guards over the years, Rice did not order an investigation until after a Sept. 16 shootout in Baghdad involving guards from the private security contractor Blackwater left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

And recognition of staffing issues and problems with the construction of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad did not emerge until after Rice installed a new ambassador there this year. The embassy was short-staffed, and construction problems have delayed the opening of the $592 million complex.

Ryan C. Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, said it is the "responsibility of the ambassador" to notify the secretary of state of problems -- and not the secretary's job to dig deeper if the news appears good.

Kennedy credits Rice with pushing for action after the Blackwater shootings. Before he departed for Baghdad on his first trip to review the incident, 12 days after the shootings, Rice told him she wanted an initial report "done fully but fast" -- in 96 hours, Kennedy said.

"Some might argue that such a review should have been taken earlier," Negroponte said. "But she moved very rapidly to deal with the situation. A test of a manager is that if problems come up, you are able to deal with them effectively."