Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell was an American Army general, diplomat, and statesman who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005 and was the highest-ranking African American in the federal executive branch in American history until the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008. Originally a member of the Republican Party, he was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th national security advisor from 1987 to 1989, and the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993.
Powell was born in New York City in 1937 to parents who immigrated from Jamaica. He was raised in the South Bronx and educated in the New York City public schools, earning a bachelor's degree in geology from the City College of New York. He joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps while at City College and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on graduating in 1958. He was a professional soldier for 35 years, holding many command and staff positions and rising to the rank of four-star general. He was commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command in 1989.
Powell's last military assignment, from October 1989 to September 1993, was as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, the highest military position in the United States Department of Defense. During this time, he oversaw twenty-eight crises, including the invasion of Panama in 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq in 1990–1991. He formulated the Powell Doctrine, which limits American military action unless it satisfies criteria regarding American national security interests, overwhelming force, and widespread public support. He served as secretary of state under Republican president George W. Bush. As secretary of state, Powell gave a presentation to the United Nations Security Council regarding the rationale for the Iraq War, but he later admitted that the speech contained substantial inaccuracies. He resigned after Bush was reelected in 2004.
In 1995, Powell wrote his autobiography, My American Journey and then in retirement another book titled, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership. He pursued a career as a public speaker, addressing audiences across the country and abroad. Before his appointment as Secretary of State he chaired America's Promise. In the 2016 United States presidential election, Powell, who was not a candidate, received three electoral votes from Washington state for the office of President of the United States. He won numerous U.S. and foreign military awards and decorations, including the Purple Heart. His civilian awards included the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award. Powell died from complications of COVID-19 in 2021, while being treated for a form of blood cancer that damaged his immune system.
Early life and education
Colin Luther Powell was born on, in Harlem, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. He was born to Jamaican immigrants Maud Ariel and Luther Theophilus Powell. His parents were both of mixed African, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. He was a descendant of Eyre Coote a general in the British Army and governor of Jamaica.Powell was a first cousin twice removed of Fall Out Boy bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz; Wentz's maternal grandfather, Arthur Winston Lewis, was Powell's first cousin. Luther worked as a shipping clerk and Maud as a seamstress. Powell was raised in the South Bronx and attended the now closed Morris High School, from which he graduated in 1954.
While at school, Powell worked at a local baby furniture store, where he picked up Yiddish from the Eastern European Jewish shopkeepers and some of the customers. He also served as a Shabbos goy, helping Orthodox families with needed tasks on the Sabbath. He received a bachelor of science degree in geology from the City College of New York in 1958 and said that he was a "C average" student. While at CCNY, Powell shifted his study focus to the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and became a "straight A student" in it; he held the distinction of being the first chairman to have attained his commission through the ROTC. Powell also graduated from George Washington University with an MBA in 1971 and was awarded an honorary doctor of public service in 1990.
Military career
Powell was a professional soldier for thirty-five years, holding a variety of command and staff positions and rising to the rank of general.Training
While attending the City College of New York, Powell joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He described the experience as one of the happiest experiences of his life. According to Powell:As a cadet, Powell joined the Pershing Rifles, the ROTC fraternal organization and drill team begun by General John Pershing.
Early career
Upon graduation, he received a commission as an Army second lieutenant; at this time, the Army was newly desegregated. He underwent training in the state of Georgia, where he was refused service in bars and restaurants because of the color of his skin. After attending basic training at Fort Benning, Powell was assigned to the 48th Infantry, in West Germany, as a platoon leader. From 1960 to 1962, he served as group liaison officer, company executive officer, and commander of Company A, 1st Battle Group, 4th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.Vietnam War
Powell served a tour in Vietnam as a South Vietnamese Army advisor from 1962 to 1963. While on patrol in a Viet Cong-held area, he was wounded by stepping on a punji stake and was awarded a Purple Heart. The large infection made it difficult for him to walk, and caused his foot to swell for a short time, shortening his first tour.Powell returned to Vietnam as a major in 1968, serving as assistant chief of staff of operations for the 23rd Infantry Division. During the second tour in Vietnam he was decorated with the Soldier's Medal for bravery after he survived a helicopter crash and single-handedly rescued three others, including division commander Major General Charles M. Gettys, from the burning wreckage.
My Lai massacre inquiry
Powell was charged with investigating a detailed letter by 11th Light Infantry Brigade soldier Tom Glen, which backed up rumored allegations of the 1968 My Lai massacre. Powell wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between Americal soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent". Later, Powell's assessment would be described as whitewashing the news of the massacre, and questions would continue to remain undisclosed to the public. In May 2004, Powell said to television and radio host Larry King, "I was in a unit that was responsible for My Lai. I got there after My Lai happened. So, in war, these sorts of horrible things happen every now and again, but they are still to be deplored".After the Vietnam War
When he returned to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1971, Powell earned a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He later served a White House Fellowship under President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1973. During 1975–1976 he attended the National War College, Washington, D.C.In his autobiography, My American Journey, Powell named several officers he served under who inspired and mentored him. As a lieutenant colonel commanding 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea, Powell was very close to his division commander, Major General Henry "Gunfighter" Emerson, whom he regarded as one of the most caring officers he ever met. Emerson insisted his troops train at night to fight a possible North Korean attack, and made them repeatedly watch the television film Brian's Song to promote racial harmony. Powell always professed that what set Emerson apart was his great love of his soldiers and concern for their welfare. After a race riot occurred, in which African-American soldiers almost killed a white officer, Powell was charged by Emerson to crack down on black militants; Powell's efforts led to the discharge of one soldier, and other efforts to reduce racial tensions. During 1976–1977 he commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division.
Powell subsequently served as the junior military assistant to deputy secretaries of defense Charles Duncan and Graham Claytor, receiving a promotion to brigadier general on 1 June 1979. At the ceremony, he received from Secretary Harold Brown's protocol officer, Stuart Purviance, a framed quotation by President Abraham Lincoln. The quote was "I can make a brigadier general in five minutes. But it's not so easy to replace one hundred ten horses". Taped to the back of the frame was an envelope with instructions that it not be opened for ten years. When Powell opened the note in 1989, after he had become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he read Purviance's prediction that Powell would become Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Powell wrote that he kept the Lincoln quote as a reminder to remain humble despite his rank and position.
National Security Advisor and other advisory roles
Powell retained his role as the now-senior military assistant into the presidency of Ronald Reagan, serving under Claytor's successor as deputy secretary of defense, Frank Carlucci. Powell and Carlucci formed a close friendship, referring to each by first names in private, as Powell refused any sort of first-name basis in an official capacity. It was on Powell's advice that newly-elected President Ronald Reagan presented Roy Benavidez the Medal of Honor; Benavidez had received the Distinguished Service Cross, which his commander argued should be upgraded, but Army officials believed there was no living eyewitness to testify to Benavidez's heroism. A soldier who had been present during the action in question learned in July 1980 of the effort to upgrade Benavidez's medal and provided the necessary sworn statement; the upgrade to the Medal of Honor was approved in December 1980. Powell also declined an offer from Secretary of the Army John O. Marsh Jr. to be his under secretary due to his reluctance to assume a political appointment; James R. Ambrose was selected instead. Intent on attaining a division command, Powell petitioned Carlucci and Army chief of staff Edward C. Meyer for reassignment away from the Pentagon, with Meyer appointing Powell as assistant division commander for operations and training of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado under Major General John W. Hudachek.After he left Fort Carson, Powell became the senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, whom he assisted during the 1983 invasion of Grenada and the 1986 airstrike on Libya. Under Weinberger, Powell was also involved in the unlawful transfer of U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles and Hawk anti-aircraft missiles from Israel to Iran as part of the criminal conspiracy that would later become known as the Iran–Contra affair. In November 1985, Powell solicited and delivered to Weinberger a legal assessment that the transfer of Hawk missiles to Israel or Iran, without Congressional notification, would be "a clear violation" of the law. Despite this, thousands of TOW missiles and hundreds of Hawk missiles and spare parts were transferred from Israel to Iran until the venture was exposed in a Lebanese magazine, Ash-Shiraa, in November 1986. According to Iran-Contra Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, when questioned by Congress, Powell "had given incomplete answers" concerning notes withheld by Weinberger and that the activities of Powell and others in concealing the notes "seemed corrupt enough to meet the new, poorly defined test of obstruction". Following his resignation as Secretary of Defense, Weinberger was indicted on five felony charges, including one count Obstruction of Congress for concealing the notes. Powell was never indicted by the Independent Counsel in connection with the Iran-Contra affair.
In 1986, Powell took over the command of V Corps in Frankfurt, Germany, from Robert Lewis "Sam" Wetzel. The next year, he served as United States Deputy National Security Advisor, under Frank Carlucci.
Following the Iran–Contra scandal, Powell became, at the age of 49, Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor, serving from 1987 to 1989 while retaining his Army commission as a lieutenant general. He helped negotiate a number of arms treaties with Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union.
In April 1989, after his tenure with the National Security Council, Powell was promoted to four-star general under President George H. W. Bush and briefly served as the Commander in Chief, Forces Command, headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia, overseeing all active U.S. Army regulars, U.S. Army Reserve, and National Guard units in the Continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. He became the third general since World War II to reach four-star rank without ever serving as a division commander, joining Dwight D. Eisenhower and Alexander Haig.
Later that year, President George H. W. Bush selected him as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.