"This town is kind of crazy,” says a White House aide. “There is something going on in which these stories are feeding one another and sensing blood in the water and piling on, one after the other."
Vietor says: “I think what it shows you is how absurd our public discourse can be at times ... Those of us who have worked in the White House with Susan, or on the campaign before that, know her as someone who is kind and funny and a pleasure to work with. She was willing to talk to the most senior people or the lowest person on the totem pole. We’re lucky to have her.”
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“It has been vicious,” says a Rice loyalist who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There is a strain of sexism in the attacks. She is being described as ‘screeching,’ not simply ‘blunt.’ They never talked that way about Richard Holbrooke.”
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If Rice is not especially popular at the U.N., it’s largely because many of her fellow ambassadors are "old white men with strong personalities" and "it is off-putting to them that she's a
young African-American woman."
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“There's a status quo bias across the system, and Susan is not a champion of the status quo if people are hurting,” Power says. “She's always willing to take a tool out of the toolbox and challenge assumptions and not let conventional wisdom cause us to drift from one meeting to the next. She shakes things up, for sure, but she's also phenomenal at building alliances and cultivating relationships … She's not snobby about who she engages with. If there's something she thinks needs doing in the world, she will find the person who is the doer."
Power adds: “Susan brings a very distinct perspective and very assertive presence and voice. She's going to ruffle feathers.”
