Washington, Oct 23: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has reportedly described (her party) Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a “fantastic person”, but fell short to fully endorse her candidature for the second most powerful post in the country.

She also said that Hillary Clinton too was a terrific personality.

“That is what it really means to me and I think they are both terrific. You have this presidential campaign in which you had Hillary Clinton who I think was terrific. Now it's Sarah Palin, who is a fantastic person,” said Rice while appearing alongside PepsiCo chief executive Indra Nooyi at the 2008 Women''s Conference in Long Beach, California

According to Pakistani English daily, Rice appeared “guarded” and avoided giving a full endorsement when asked to comment on Palin.

Both Nooyi and Rice were asked about their opinions on the women who had the greatest impact on the presidential election - John McCain''s running mate Palin and Hillary Clinton, who was bested in the Democratic primaries by Barack Obama.

Nooyi immediately took the floor and expressed her admiration for Clinton, saying she thought she was “an amazing candidate.” “I have yet to meet somebody more brilliant than her in this campaign. She was an amazing lady, completely blew me away,” Nooyi said to applause from more than 14,000 onlookers.

Then, with a mischievous smile Nooyi added that she would "let Condi talk about Sarah Palin," provoking laughter from the audience. (ANI)