Rice, Gonzales and Hughes to Serve as Senior White House Aides

Austin - President-elect George W. Bush today named Condoleezza Rice, Alberto R. Gonzales, and Karen Hughes as three of his top White House aides. Dr. Rice will serve as the Administration's National Security Adviser; Justice Gonzales will serve as General Counsel, and Hughes will serve as Counselor to the President.  

"These three individuals have experience, integrity and judgement that I value and trust," said President-elect George W. Bush. "Condoleezza Rice is a highly respected foreign policy leader who will do an outstanding job as National Security Adviser. Karen Hughes has long
been a trusted advisor with a strategic mind and results-oriented approach that will be great assets at the White House. Justice Al Gonzales has broad experience in the legal system, unquestioned integrity, and will make an outstanding addition to my administration."

As National Security Adviser, Dr. Rice, 46, will serve President-elect  Bush as a top foreign policy adviser. Dr. Rice is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, and recently completed a six-year tenure as the University's Provost, the school's top budget and academic officer. During the Reagan Administration, she served as an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr.
Rice also served in the Bush Administration as Senior Director of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council.

Justice Alberto R. Gonzales, 45, has served on the Supreme Court of Texas since January 1999. As General Counsel at the White House, he will be one of President-elect Bush's top legal advisers. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court of Texas, Gonzales served as Secretary
of State for the State of Texas. In that capacity, he served as Senior Advisor to the Governor, Chief Elections Officer for the state, and the Governor's lead liaison on Mexico and border issues. From 1995 to 1997, Gonzales served as General Counsel in the Texas Governor's office.
Gonzales, who served in the Air Force between 1973 and 1975, is a graduate of Rice University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School.  

Karen Hughes, 43, who served as President-elect Bush's Director of Communications during the campaign, will join the new Administration as Counselor to the President. Hughes will be responsible for providing strategic advice to the president in a variety of areas including
communications, policy and legislative matters. Ms. Hughes will oversee the Offices of Press Secretary, Communications and Speechwriting. Hughes has worked for President-elect Bush since his 1994 campaign for Texas Governor. She served as Director of Communications for both his gubernatorial campaigns in 1994 and 1998, and was Director of Communications in the Governor's state office from 1995 until 1999, when she joined the presidential campaign. She is a former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas and a former reporter for KXAS-TV in
Dallas/Ft. Worth.