Condoleezza Rice on the Coast

  The first woman to have served as The National Security Advisor and the first black woman to serve as Secretary of State has returned to Alabama, a place she still considers home.

"It's emotionally, really quite wonderful you know.  I think about my parents.  I think about my grandparents", said Dr. Condoleezza Rice.  She met with reporters briefly before a book signing in Fairhope Thursday. 

Born in a segregated Birmingham, Rice recalls the early days of the civil rights movement.  She's used those experiences to her advantage when working with heads of state.

Rice said, "As I went around the world, I could say to people what has happened in the United States, what has happened in Alabama is evidence that change can come".

One recent change the republican does not agree with, Alabama's strict laws on immigration.  "I think the patchwork of laws is a very bad idea.  I think that we need to do this at the federal level".

At the federal level, Rice says her successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton has done a fine job as Secretary of State.  While she doesn't agree with everything the Obama Administration has done, Rice says on the war on terror, the administration has done a very good job using using the infrastructure President Bush left in place. 

When asked who should take credit for taking down Osama Bin Laden, Rice responded, "The credit for taking down Osama Bin Laden goes to the persistence of the United States of America across two administrations, intelligence officers, military people, and two presidents who made difficult decisions".