general powellColin, the ‘first African-American Secretary of State’, died on Monday as a consequence of complications with ‘Covid-19‘,.
He was eighty-four years old.
Powell was completely immunized against ‘Covid-19’,
according to a statement is shared on Facebook by his family. With his death, the former soldier and politician became arguably the most well-known American public person to succumb to a “breakthrough” infection of the new coronavirus.
“We want to express our gratitude to the medical team at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their kind care,” the Powell family stated in a statement. “We have lost an extraordinary and loving husband, father, grandpa, and wonderful American.”
Powell was also the country’s ‘first African-American national security advisor ‘and the ‘ first African-American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ‘, as well as the youngest person to ‘ hold either position ‘. Powell was widely regarded as the most popular American general since Dwight Eisenhower, and he was often touted as a potential presidential contender, but he never decided to run.
“general powellColin is an ‘American hero’, an American example, and a wonderful American tale,”
President-elect George W. Bush stated in naming him Secretary of State in December 2000. “It’s a wonderful day when a South Bronx native succeeds to the position originally held by Thomas Jefferson.”
“I would say of General Powell what Harry Truman said of General [George] Marshall: he is a tower of strength and common sense,” Bush remarked, comparing him to another meticulous, straight-arrow military commander who became secretary of state.
Powell’s years in the ‘ public eye’ were mainly framed by conflicts with Iraq, for better or worse. The first war, under President George H.W. Bush, was a successful operation to free Kuwait from Iraq – America’s clearest military triumph since the quagmire that was the Vietnam War.
The second, started in 2003 by the younger Bush, was an attempt to prevent Saddam Hussein’s regime from deploying nuclear weapons, a conflict that tarnished Powell and other American officials when it became apparent that those weapons did not exist. “I’m mainly angry at myself for not smelling the issue,” Powell wrote in his 2012 book ‘It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership.’ “My instincts let me down
Powell was born on ‘April 5, 1937’, in New York’s Harlem district, to Jamaican immigrants ‘Luther and Maud Powell’. “I was a happy-go-lucky kid,” he later said of his youth.
In his 2019 book powellColin: Imperfect Patriot,” Jeffrey J. Matthews wrote:
“Raised in a working-class area of New York’s South Bronx by immigrant parents, Powell never excelled in academics or sports, nor did he exhibit the extroverted characteristics so frequently associated with emerging young leaders.”
Powell attended ‘City College of New York ‘ after graduating from Morris High School in 1954. In the college’s ROTC program, he discovered direction, purpose, and companionship. He graduated as a second lieutenant, beginning a military career that would take him to nearly unthinkable heights for a soldier who did not attend a military school.
“It Worked For Me,“ “I was passed off to the U.S. Army.”
he recounted in
He came to Vietnam in 1962, the same year he married Alma Vivian Powell, long before the escalating war was on the radar of most Americans. His duty was to train the South Vietnamese military leadership. Powell was injured after stepping on a punji stake.
During the second trip in 1968, he escaped a helicopter accident and rescued the other passengers “completely disregarding his safety and while wounded himself” (according to the commendation he later received). His second service in Vietnam also sharpened his views on how American military force should be used.
“I had gone off Vietnam in 1962, relying on a bedrock of principle and beliefs,” he subsequently said. “And I had watched euphemisms, falsehoods, and self-deception undermined the foundation.”
His Vietnam War experiences, combined with insights gained from a careful study of military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, would fuel what would become known as the Powell Doctrine, with its emphasis on restraint and the idea that every use of the United States military should have clear and achievable goals — and sufficient resources to ensure success. Powell also believed that having popular support at home and allies across the globe was critical.
“We owe it to ‘the men and women who put their lives in danger ‘ to ensure that their lives are not wasted for nebulous reasons,” he said in a New York Times op-ed in 1992.
Powell was praised by almost everyone he served within the military. He was seen as both a powerful leader and a flawless follower, a rare combination, according to Matthews
in “Imperfect Patriot.” Before requesting that others under his leadership try anything though, he would often attempt it himself, gaining respect and devotion.
Caspar Weinberger, President Ronald Reagan’s defense secretary, described general powellColin as “Colin is quintessentially a good soldier,” “He does his duty and carries out orders.”
Powell moved up the ranks to become a brigadier ‘general in 1979’, a ‘major general in 1983’, a ‘ lieutenant general in 1986’, and a ‘four-star general in 1989’. After serving under Weinberger and subsequently, as Reagan’s national security advisor, the first President Bush appointed him to ‘the Joint Chiefs of Staff’ in 1989. Powell was unanimously confirmed for the position.
As ‘the Cold War’ unexpectedly ended, the globe began rearranging itself in a haphazard and often violent manner. “Powell emerged as America’s most respected and trusted leader amid the worldwide turmoil,” Matthews wrote.
The Bush administration invaded Panama and deposed strongman Manuel Noriega, but no challenge was bigger than Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, its small neighbor, in August 1990.
initially hesitated to go to war, Powell advised that the United States needed to have the power to ensure victory — as well as enough time to put those troops in place.
In January ‘1991, the United States ‘ formed an international ‘coalition to liberate Kuwait’ and began an air campaign. The ground battle that followed was lightning quick, lasting just 100 hours. Powell and Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf were highly lauded for the victory; for the first time, it seemed that war had gone according to plan.
More than 4 million people attended Powell’s hometown’s ‘ticker-tape parade’ in June. “It’s wonderful to be back in New York,” he said.
“From my viewpoint,” he told Military Times in 2017, “the way the American people viewed this operation is the greatest aspect.” And they’d been warned that tens of thousands of people might be murdered. They were concerned about this volunteer army, which had never seen war at this level before. And they were delighted with the outcomes. They also put up parades for our soldiers.”
Powell left the service in the autumn of 1993. In a ‘Wall Street Journal/NBC News ‘ survey that year, he had a 64 percent positive rating, with just 6% negative.
In 1994, Joe Klein of Newsweek stated, “general powellColin Powell is a unique case.” “At 57, he is the most well-liked person in American politics. He is a public figure who transcends politics and an African-American who transcends race.”
Powell was widely considered as the ‘strongest challenger to President Bill Clinton’ in 1996, buoyed by ‘sales of his autobiography ‘, “My American Journey” — his book’ tour drew’ huge crowds — and ‘the success of a mission to Haiti with former ‘President Jimmy Carter’ and then-Sen. Sam Nunn that averted a war there.
Powell, on the other hand, decided not to run for president. He declared himself a Republican on Nov. 8, 1995, and then promptly dropped out.
Powell told CNN in 2009, “I never discovered within of me the intrinsic desire that you have to have to run for public office,” adding, “It simply wasn’t me, and you have to be honest to yourself.”
‘On his way ‘ to a loss at the hands of Clinton in September 1996, Republican candidate Bob Dole told ABC’s Barbara Walters that Powell could have any position he wanted in his Cabinet. He joked, “I’d nearly give him mine.”
Powell rejoined the public service towards the conclusion of Clinton’s second term. He accepted George W. Bush’s invitation to head the State Department,
despite the fact that he was still very popular. Powell’s appointment was regarded as proof that Bush wanted to mend the nation’s wounds after the contentious presidential election of 2000. Powell was overwhelmingly confirmed the day after Bush was inaugurated.
Powell stated at the time of his selection, “The old global map as we knew it, with a red side and a blue side competing for something called the Third World, is gone.” “And the new map is a mosaic, a mosaic made up of many various parts and colors that are scattered over the globe.”
The terrorist events of September 11, 2001, altered the globe. The Bush administration retaliated by battling the Taliban in Afghanistan before turning its attention to Iraq, where Saddam Hussein remained in power a decade after the Gulf War. The issue was that the argument for overthrowing him, which Bush and others were ready to accomplish, was nothing like as compelling as the evidence linking the Taliban to the 9/11 atrocities.
Bush entrusted Powell with presenting the case against Iraq to the rest of the world, counting on his popularity.
Powell, who was naturally cautious, tried to reach irrefutable findings, according to Matthews.
Powell traveled to ‘the United Nations ‘ in February 2003 to represent the Bush administration. “Every assertion I make today is backed up by sources, reliable sources,” he said. This isn’t a list of claims. We are providing you
with information and conclusions that are based on reliable evidence.”
The United States attacked Iraq a few weeks later.
As the conflict proceeded, it became apparent that Powell’s facts were not nearly as reliable as he had claimed. There were not any weapons found of mass destruction found ‘ in Iraq after the invasion. The sum of A and B did not equal C.
Powell’s career had not been without flaws up to that point, of course. He was involved in the cover-up of the killing in the Vietnamese ‘hamlet of My Lai’ in 1968. He was involved in the illicit transfer of weapons to Iran under the Reagan administration. Powell would have had to testify against his old boss regarding such transactions if Weinberger hadn’t been pardoned before his trial. An operation in Somalia had become complex and deadly in 1992-93.
Powell’s reputation, however, suffered a blow this time.
“After leaving office, Powell would embellish his record, boasting about how he had achieved wins inside the Bush administration and with friends,” Thomas Ricks said in “Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq.” Sadly, he seems to understand that his time as Secretary of State will be remembered for presenting the false argument at the United Nations.”
Powell stepped down when Bush was re-elected in 2004.
He said, “It has always been my goal to serve one term.” In spite of the fact that there were conflicts in ‘the White House’ over foreign policy, it was clear that the decision was mutual.
Powell impacted Bush on certain issues, such as global HIV/AIDS prevention, but he had disagreements with Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and others on North Korea, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and other global hot spots. He was also in conflict with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over Iraq’s difficult democratic transition.
Powell said in 2011 that “it was obvious by 2004 that the squad was not working as a team.”
“And we had opposing viewpoints, and not just opposing viewpoints, but opposing viewpoints that could not be reconciled.”
Powell was later slandered by Bush supporters. Cheney, in particular, was chastised for his remarks on ‘the Iraq war’.
The retired general was still in high demand as a lecturer and national security expert.
Charitable organizations sought his help, schools were named after him, and ‘City College of New York established the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership in his honor.
Powell also received ‘two Presidential Medals of Freedom’, the’ NAACP’s Spingarn Medal ‘, the ‘Liberty Medal’, the’ Ronald Reagan Freedom Award’, and a ‘Congressional Gold Medal’. He was named one of the world’s most admired persons sixteen times in the Gallup Poll.
Throughout it all, he never sought office,
despite the fact that three disloyal Electoral College electors voted for him instead of Donald Trump or’ Hillary Clinton’ in 2016. Powell described his unexpected third-place result in 2020 as “charming.”
He supported Barack Obama in October 2008,
only weeks before the nation’s ‘first African-American president ‘ was elected. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Powell stated, “I believe he is a transformative figure.”
“I can’t dispute that an African-American being president will be a historic occurrence,” Powell said. And all Americans, not just African-Americans, should be pleased if that happens.”
