The secretary of state said Democrat Barack Obama's likely nomination shows the nation's progress in race relations.

“I think it's great, and I think it's great for our country,” Rice said of Obama's candidacy.

Rice noted that Colin Powell was the first black person to be America's top diplomat. She is the second.

“It just shows that our country has been doing this for a while and it's great that this last barrier perhaps, has also come down,” she said in a broadcast interview that aired Sunday.

Rice made it clear that she doesn't want to be considered for vice president. She said she wants to return to California and write a book about America's foreign policy after President Bush leaves office in January.

“Look, I've done my part, and I've got six months to sprint to the finish and then I have other things that I want to do,” she said. “There are issues that have come to concern me greatly. Some that I was concerned about before I came here, like the state of education in the United States, which I think is at the root of our competitiveness.”

Rice also said she has decided which candidate she will vote for in November, but she say in public who it will be.

The interview was taped Friday and shown Sunday on “Late Edition” on CNN.