Powell, Colin Luther

Powell, Colin Luther (b. 5 Apr. 1937). US Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1989–93 Born to a Jamaican-American family in New York in 1937, Powell rose through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and service in Vietnam to the top ranks of the US military by the early 1970s. Under the Reagan administration, Powell's ability to command a briefing session with crisp and precise language gained him the position of presidential national security adviser. In 1989 he became the first American of African descent to serve as Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reflecting the status of the military as the most racially integrated organization in American society. He was Commander of US forces during the Gulf War, demonstrating his sure touch with the media when he explained US policy towards Iraq. In this he was haunted by the memory of Vietnam, and applied his doctrinal belief that US military action had to be accompanied by clear political and legal direction and possessed of overwhelming force. After retirement he led a US delegation to Haiti with Jimmy Carter and successfully convinced the dictators there to quit the country in the face of a US military invasion. Despite his popularity, he declined to run in the 1996 and 2000 presidential election campaigns, but in 2001 he was appointed Secretary of State. In this position, he exercised a moderating influence on a conservative administration. His careful handling of the War on Terrorism brought him much respect, though his hands-off approach in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians from 2001 was criticized.