Colin L. Powell

U.S. Secretary of State

(New York Times - 17/12/00; U.S. Department of State; ExpandNATO.org)

Colin Powell was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state on 20 January 2001. A retired four-star general, Powell brings 35 years of military experience to his position, including four years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The New York Times has called Powell “the ultimate insider, a policymaker’s general, touted as a model of the Army general in an era when diplomatic finesse seemed as important as combat experience.”

The son of immigrants from Jamaica, Powell was born on 5 April 1937 in Harlem, a neighbourhood in New York City, and raised in the South Bronx. His father was employed as a gardener and a building superintendent, as well as a stock boy, shipping clerk and foreman in Manhattan’s garment district. His mother worked as a seamstress. Powell attended New York City public schools and graduated from the City University of New York with a bachelor’s degree in geology. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps program during his college years, and was commissioned an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in 1958. After two tours of duty in Vietnam, the Army sent Powell to George Washington University where he earned a Master’s of Business Administration in 1969.

The year 1972 marked a turning point in Powell’s career. He was selected for the prestigious one-year White House fellowship program and had the opportunity to study the American political system while working in the Office of Management and Budget. After a tour of duty in South Korea, Powell returned to Washington to work in the Pentagon for four years under President Jimmy Carter. He then served as a senior aide in the Department of Energy for one year. In 1983 he became military assistant to Secretary of Defence Caspar W. Weinberger. After working at the Department of Defence, Powell returned to the field to command the Army’s Fifth Corps in Western Europe. In 1986 he went back to the White House, this time as deputy national security advisor under President Ronald Reagan. In 1987 Powell was appointed assistant to the president for national security affairs, a post in which he served until January 1989. He became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 1989, serving under both President George Bush and President Bill Clinton until his retirement in 1993.

After retiring from the Army, Powell spent two years writing his autobiography, “My American Journey,” which was published in September 1995. Before assuming his position as secretary of state, the retired general worked as the founder and chairman of “America’s Promise: The Alliance for Youth,” an organization that works with corporations, charities and communities to promote volunteerism aimed at helping disadvantaged youths.

Powell met his wife, Alma Vivian Johnson, on a blind date in 1961. They have three children and two grandchildren.