If personnel is policy, then President Bush’s recent staffing decisions at the State Department clearly signal Foggy Bottom’s re-emergence as a major power center.

Washington was abuzz this weekend about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s sense of style and her political prospects.

Dr. Rice showed up at the Gridiron Dinner on Saturday outfitted in a striking bright red formal gown that landed her on the front page of the Washington Post’s Style Section under the headline “Careful, that dish is hot.” The formal dinner, sponsored by a group of senior print and broadcast journalists, draws an influential crowd including both the president and vice president.

On Sunday’s “Face the Nation” broadcast on CBS, Rice quipped, “I think the lesson here is never to wear red, apparently.”

The Secretary spent much of Sunday trying to knock down rumors she would run for president in 2008. “I will not run for president of the United States,” she told Tim Russert on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I don’t know how many ways to say no in this town, I really don’t.”

Then, on Monday, the White House announced that two more powerful women, both close confidantes of the president, would be moving to State. Long time Bush political advisor and wordsmith Karen Hughes will be returning to Washington as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, charged with telling America’s story to the world.

Speaking in the ornate Benjamin Franklin Room in the State Department, Hughes said she was “eager to listen and to learn” and that she wanted to help the president “overcome hate with hope.” While admitting that “perceptions do not change quickly or easily,” Hughes concluded that she intended “to speak from the heart” in telling America’s story to the world.

Hughes, who left Washington in 2002 so her son could finish high school in Texas, has long been one of the President’s closest advisors. Given her unquestioned loyalty to him and the length of their relationship, Hughes reportedly can speak candidly with Mr. Bush.

The White House also said that Dina Powell would be Karen Hughes’ deputy. While not known to the general public, Ms. Powell (no relation to Colin Powell) has been the president’s personnel director and thus has been a key player in selecting candidates for top jobs in the administration.

Ms. Powell, who is only 31, was born in Egypt and came to the United States as a child. As ABC News’ influential online newsletter “The Note” points out, Powell is the highest ranking Middle Eastern woman in the administration and speaks Arabic.

These hires “make it clear the State Department is becoming the kind of power center it hasn’t been since the days of [former Secretaries of State] James Baker and maybe even Henry” Kissinger, The Note observes.

Of course, the challenge of improving America’s image abroad requires more than domestic political clout. When she introduced Ms. Hughes on Monday, Rice said the US “must do a better job of engaging the Muslim word” and that more needs to be done to counter the “hateful propaganda” that is common in the Islamic world.

Rice’s rise to power was lampooned at the Gridiron dinner. While the evening is off the record, lyrics from the songs performed during the four-hour dinner are released to the press. Using music from “When I Was A Lad” by Gilbert and Sullivan, a journalist sang about Rice:

When I was a Stanford professor,
I tutored a certain Texas governor.
I showed him the countries on a great big map,
And I never scolded him when he made a gaffe.
I tutored Dubya so charmingly
That now I am a cabinet secretary.

Now Republicans all, in this age of Bush
If you want to triumph, get up early and push
To land a job that’s truly cool
You should always be guided by this Golden Rule:

Stick close by his side
And never tell him “no”
And there will be no limit
To where you may go.

It is not clear where Rice and her policies may go. What is clear is that President Bush – perhaps focused on his legacy – has placed an extraordinary collection of strong, totally trusted women at a department that was viewed with suspicion in the administration during his first term.