Condoleezza Rice, in SF talk, says Trump and nation must adjust

Ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets audi ence members at the University of San Francisco. Ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets audi ence members at the University of San Francisco. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Condoleezza Rice, in SF talk, says Trump and nation must adjust 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

The United States is in “uncharted territory” with President Trump, a man with no experience in public service who has “never even sniffed government,” former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday in a talk at the University of San Francisco.

Government under the Trump administration will “look and feel different,” Rice said, noting the rapid parade of executive orders, and ensuing controversy, that has marked his first week in office. “But I am a great believer in what the Founding Fathers believed in, which is the contained executive” kept in check by Congress, the courts and, she said, “Americans, who are a notoriously ungovernable people.”

Still, somebody should probably think about taking away his Twitter account, Trump’s favorite tool for quickly, and arguably with too little thought, communicating with the masses, she said.

“I almost wish that there were kind of a placebo Twitter,” Rice said, “where he was tweeting but it was going into hyperspace instead.”

Rice’s comments were part of a 45-minute discussion before 500 students and faculty of the Jesuit school, who were invited to submit questions in advance. Rice was appointed secretary of state by President George W. Bush, becoming the first black woman to hold that position. She’s now a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Thursday’s discussion first meandered through Rice’s youth and her advice to young college students, then hit on some amusing anecdotes from her time as Bush’s national security adviser and then secretary of state.

When the topic turned to current politics, including Trump and the state of relations with Russia, Rice, always the diplomat, was reserved in her comments, but clearly primed to offer some thoughts.

“I think we have to give this (Trump presidency) some time,” Rice said. It will take the president himself time to realize the limitations of his power, she said, because he’s “accustomed to a different domain.”

Referring to his order to build a wall on the border with Mexico, Rice said, “just wait until he realizes with that wall there have to be environmental impact studies, then those have to be put on the Web for comment. Pretty soon he’s going to think, ‘What did I get into?’”

Rice, an expert in Soviet history and politics, spoke for several minutes about current U.S.-Russian relations and the need to improve them. Russia is hardly a leader in the global economy — “Think of the last time you bought a product made in Russia. It doesn’t happen,” she said. But its on-the-ground control in Syria and President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive moves to “rebuild an empire” make it an important international player.

She warned Americans to not confuse Putin — a man she knows “quite well” — with the Russian people.

“You have to find a way to isolate Putin and Putinism without isolating the Russians,” Rice said. “This is the most sophisticated, intellectually capable people on the face of the Earth when it comes to science and literature and the arts. We have to keep reaching out to the Russian population.”

When the moderator of Thursday’s talk, Jeff Silk of the money management firm Fisher Investments, finally brought up Trump toward the end of the conversation, Rice teased, “I wondered when you were going to ask.”

She acknowledged that diplomacy was something he needs to work on, noting that as secretary of state she was constantly aware of the importance of language, both for herself and the president she advised.

“The tempestuousness or tendency to want to comment on everything, he’s got to dial that back,” she said. “When you’re president of the United States, you’ve got to think before you speak.”

But she added that she understands his enthusiasm for “direct communication” via Twitter with the people who elected him, and that many of those same people are drawn to his style of leadership. “He believes the American people wanted him to go in and turn over tables,” Rice said.

“Let’s be honest about this. The good thing about democracy is when disaffected people find channels to press for change,” she said. “And there was a huge disaffected population who felt that globalization had not served them well, that they’d been left behind. We have to look deep into our national psyche and not just ignore the factors that produced this outcome.

“If we can do that, we will have used this lesson well.”

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday