Susan Rice is currently the senior advisor on foreign policy for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In 2004, on leave from the Brookings Institute, Susan Rice served as Senior Advisor for National Security Affairs on the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Rice was US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1997-2001 during the Clinton administration. From 1995-1997, Rice was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council.