Afterword

Summary

In January 2011, the inaugural show of Piers Morgan Tonight aired on CNN. On the third day of the new show, the guest was Professor Condoleezza Rice, the 66th United States Secretary of State serving from 2005 to 2009. She was the first Black female Secretary of State and the second never-married secretary (the first was James Buchanan, who served from 1845 to 1849). While this may not have been common knowledge to some people prior to May 16, 2014, that might have changed by the next morning. For the Jeopardy! viewers watching the last day of the Battle of the Decade with a million dollars on the line, the Final Jeopardy category was “Secretaries of State,” and the question was, “Serving 160 years apart, these 2 Secretaries of State are the only ones who never married.” The answer: “Who are James Buchanan and Condoleezza Rice?”¹ While some might be amused by such trivia, others could be annoyed that of all the accomplishments of Professor Rice, her never-married status is what is highlighted on a Jeopardy! question.