Collin Powell Essay -- essays research papers

Secretary of State Colin Luther Powell served as national security consultant to President Ronald Reagan, and under President George Bush became the first African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993). In 2001 the U.S. Senate sustain him as the Secretary of State. Colin Luther Powell was born in Harlem, New York City on April 5, 1937, the son of a shipping clerk and a seamstress, both of whom were immigrants from Jamaica. Powell spend most of his childhood in the South Bronx, then regarded as a step up from Harlem. Despite the urgings of his parents that he should "strive for a thoroughly education" in order to "make something" of his life, Powell remained an ordinary student throughout high school. At City College of New York, Powell discovered himself his retentive estimation and leadership abilities made him a conspicuous success in the Armys let Officers Training Corps (ROTC). He graduated from the program in 1958 with the pose of cadet colonel, the highest awarded, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He was then assigned to duty in West Germany. In 1962, spell stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Powell met and married Alma Vivian Johnson. The couple had three children. Powells next overseas assignment was in South Vietnam, where he was wounded in action. He then studied at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, finishing second in a class of much than twelve hundred officers. During a second tour in Vietnam he received the Soldiers Medal for pulling several men from a intent helicopter. The army then provided Powell the time to study for a Masters grad in business administration at George Washington University. He received the degree in 1971, after which he worked as an analyst at the Pentagon out front securing what he c entirelyed a "dream job" an appointment as a prestigious White House fellow in the Office of focusing and Budg et under the director, Caspar Weinberger, and his de deposity, Frank Carlucci, two men of rising cast in Washington who perceived Powells uncommon abilities and who would help shape his career. A man of commanding presence at six feet one butt and 200 pounds, Powell was assigned to South Korea in 1973 to command a the great unwashed troubled by racial animosities. "I threw the bums out of the army and put the drug u... ...gure in government. During the 1996 presidential race, it was announced that Powell would run. He declined, citing various reasons. The onanism was disappointing to many Americans. In April 1997 Powell chaired a Volunteer Summit in Philadelphia. Powell, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, former presidents, and otherwise big names, including Oprah Winfrey, proposed the advent of a new volunteerism that would include people from all walks of life, place, and age. Powells next step was to chair Americas Promise, the Alliance for Youth. This arr anging is "dedicated to mobilizing individuals, groups and organizations from either part of American life, to build and strengthen the character and competence of our youth." Although the organization experienced some difficulties initially, Powells commitment did not waver. Evaluations conducted in the spring of 1999 auspicate that the organization has touched the lives of over 10 million children since its inception. On celestial latitude 16, 2000, President-elect George W. Bush nominated Powell to become the 65th Secretary of State. Following a unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, he was sworn in on January 20, 2001.