Rice, 50, was greeted in the State Department lobby by hundreds of staff, applauding and a few whooping, as she arrived bright and early a day after being confirmed by the Senate and sworn in.

Replacing Colin Powell as top US diplomat after four years as national security adviser, Rice promised to pursue Bush's "bold agenda" for US foreign policy based on the promotion of freedom and democracy around the globe.

"I know there are those who wonder whether democracy can take hold in the rocky soil of the West Bank or in Iraq or in Afghanistan," she said.

"I believe that we as Americans, who know how hard the path to democracy is, have to believe that it can. And we have to make it so that we work with those who want to achieve those aspirations."

Without mentioning any countries, Rice also alluded to the diplomatic divisions triggered by the Republican administration's invasion of Iraq nearly two years ago.

"We have allies who we need to unite in this great cause ahead of us, and I look forward to working with you to do that," she told the State Department staff.

Shortly after she spoke, Germany announced that Rice would meet in Berlin with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder early next month ahead of Bush's European tour aimed at mending fences with US partners.

The German business daily Handelsblatt said Rice would also be visiting London, Rome and Ankara as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories. There was no official confirmation from the State Department.

The new US secretary vowed to restore the department's primacy in foreign policymaking eroded over years of Powell's battles with administration hardliners often backed by Rice.

"The State Department has got to be in the lead in this period in which diplomacy will be so important to solidifying the gains of the last few years and to pressing forward an agenda for a freer and more prosperous world."

Officials said that Bush was expected to come to the State Department on Friday to attend an official swearing-in ceremony for Rice, who took the oath of office Thursday from White House chief of staff Andrew Card.

Rice, a former academic, Russian specialist and trained pianist, became the first black woman and the second woman overall to take the helm of the vast US foreign policy apparatus.

Wearing a light tan jacket and skirt and her signature string of pearls, Rice arrived at the State Department precisely on schedule at 8:15 amsmiling broadly and waving to the crowd.

Aides said she had already been busy with phone calls with her counterparts abroad. She was to confer with department staff on the Asian tsunami disaster and then attend a White House meeting on Iraq, a senior aide said.

Rice faced a daunting agenda, including the need to stabilize Iraq, repair bruised US alliances, further the Middle East peace process and rein in the nuclear arms ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

She can also count on fierce scrutiny by the Democrats, judging by her Senate confirmation process that was marked by often-harsh criticism of her role in helping crafting Bush's Iraq war policies.

But Rice received a warm welcome from staff of the State Department where she got a round of applause when she recalled how she served as an intern in its bureau of educational and cultural affairs in 1977.

"Now, there's a lesson in that," she said. "Be good to your interns."

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