WASHINGTON — Once seemingly destined to become secretary of state, Susan Rice now holds a lower profile job at the White House, juggling one global crisis after another for President Barack Obama and trying to ensure that his broad list of foreign policy priorities doesn’t fall by the wayside in the widening storm of problems overseas.

She shows no bitterness about the turn of events that short circuited her diplomatic trajectory. As Obama’s national security adviser, she commands a suite of offices steps from the Oval Office and has more daily access to the president than Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kerry travels the world and gets the headlines, Rice quietly orchestrates the foreign policy issues put on Obama’s desk.

These days, Rice has been keeping a list of issues at risk of being ignored: a trade agreement with Asia-Pacific nations, development projects in Africa and Protecting gay rights overseas.