President Bush tonight named Condoleezza Rice, his National Security Adviser, as US Secretary of State to replace Colin Powell.

If her appointment is confirmed by the Senate, Dr Rice will become the first black female Secretary of State and only the second woman to hold the top cabinet post after Madeleine Albright, Mr Powell's predecessor.

Mr Bush said: "During the last four years I've relied on her counsel, benefited from her great experience and appreciated her sound and steady judgment. And now I'm honored that she's agreed to serve in my Cabinet.

"The secretary of state is America’s face to the world and in Dr Rice the world will see the strength, grace and decency of our country.

"She displays a commitment to excellence in every aspect of her life." Bush asked the Senate for quick confirmation. "The nation needs her," he said.

In a White House ceremony, Mr Bush thanked Mr Powell for working "tirelessly and selflessly on behalf of the country". He said he would promote deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley to succeed Rice as National Security Adviser.

During the announcement Dr Rice told Mr Bush: "It has been an honour and a privilege to work for you these past four years. Under your leadership, America is fighting and winning the war on terror."

It is expected that Dr Rice will have less of a struggle than her predecessor for the President's ear, and enjoy better relations with the Pentagon.

She was at Mr Bush's side through all the dramas of his first Administration and had developed by far the closest relationship with the President of all the possible replacements. She is a close friend of the Bush family.

Republican officials said the selection of Dr Rice reflected Mr Bush's determination to take personal control of the Government in a second term, particularly departments and agencies that he felt had undermined him in the first four years.

Democrats in the Senate said that Dr Rice would ultimately be confirmed but not without a thorough examination of her record on Iraq.

They said she had failed to make sure that the President had been presented with the best possible information before the invasion. But they predicted that her good relationships with Senators from both parties would ease her confirmation.

Mr. Powell will remain in his post for up to two months while his successor goes through confirmation hearings.

Foreign policy experts predicted that Rice's ascension could result in a more coherent message from the Bush administration.

Kenneth Adelman, a conservative foreign policy specialist who worked with Powell during the Reagan administration, told the Washington Post that Mr Powell and Mr Bush had disagreed on central issues of national security and foreign policy.

Dr Rice, by contrast "certainly shares Bush's views and has learned better than anyone what Bush's views are. You are not going to have that split in a second term".

Frank J. Gaffney, president of the Centre for Security Policy said: "The president may for the first time in his presidency have someone at the helm of the State Department who actively and consistently supports his policy."

The appointment may also indicate President Bush's priorities in foreign policy in his second term.

Although much of the focus is likely to be on the Middle East, Dr Rice's background as a Russian expert would also prove useful at a time of concern about President Vladimir Putin's handling of political and civil rights.

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