who was colin powell in the golf war]

What did Colin Powell do in the war?

At that time, this was the highest rank in civilian government ever held by an African American. During his tenure, Powell came under fire for his role in building the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Initially, Powell had serious misgivings about President Bush’s plan to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein.

What is Colin Powell's full name?

Colin Luther Powell ( / ˈkoʊlɪn /; born April 5, 1937) is an American politician and retired four-star general in the United States Army.

How old was Colin Powell when he was chairman of Joint Chiefs?

Powell's last military assignment, from October 1, 1989, to September 30, 1993, was as the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. At age 52, he became the youngest officer, and first Afro-Caribbean American, to serve in this position.

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Who is Colin Powell?

Colin Luther Powell ( / ˈkoʊlɪn /; born April 5, 1937) is an American politician, diplomat and retired four-star general who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. Powell was the first African-American Secretary of State. Prior to the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008, ...

What was the last job of Colin Powell?

Powell's last military assignment, from October 1, 1989, to September 30, 1993, was as the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. At age 52, he became the youngest officer, and first Afro-Caribbean American, to serve in this position. Powell was also the first JCS chair who received his commission through ROTC.

Why did Colin Powell endorse Obama?

As additional reasons for his endorsement, Powell cited the changing positions and perceived lack of thoughtfulness of Mitt Romney on foreign affairs, and a concern for the validity of Romney's economic plans.

How did Captain Powell get wounded?

While on patrol in a Viet Cong -held area, he was wounded by stepping on a punji stake. The large infection made it difficult for him to walk, and caused his foot to swell for a short time, shortening his first tour.

What did Colin Powell do in Vietnam?

Powell returned to Vietnam as a major in 1968, serving as assistant chief of staff of operations for the 23rd (Americal) 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.

Why did Colin Powell say that people were not protected?

In September 2005, Powell criticized the response to Hurricane Katrina, and said thousands of people were not properly protected because they were poor, rather than because they were black.

How is Colin Powell's name pronounced?

Despite his parents' pronunciation of his name as / ˈkɒlɪn /, Powell has pronounced his name / ˈkoʊlɪn / since childhood, after the World War II flyer Colin P. Kelly Jr. Public officials and radio and television reporters have used Powell's preferred pronunciation.

Who joked that Colin Powell was kept in the icebox?

In his book, Bush at War, Washington Post investigative journalist Bob Woodward reported that Powell and his deputy, Richard Armitage, would joke that Powell was kept in the “icebox,” and only taken out when needed. The week before Time’s cover story on the 9/11 attacks, the magazine’s cover, dated Sept. 10, 2001, featured a very pensive Powell with the question, “Where Have You Gone, Colin Powell?” The report portrayed him losing out to administration hardliners. Woodward characterized it as a “very effective hit” on Powell by the White House.

Who is the founder of America's Promise Alliance?

Powell and wife Alma founded America’s Promise Alliance, an organization dedicated to helping at-risk youth. He told Time magazine on the organization’s 20th anniversary in 2017 that the presence of stable, trusting adults in the lives of young people is a key factor, perhaps the key factor, in keeping them in school and out of the criminal-justice system.

Did Cheney trust Powell?

Cheney, according to Gel man, didn’t trust Powell, thinking he was too swayed by his press clippings. The vice president had been given broad authority by Bush and made sure he had enough loyalists planted at State, including his daughter Liz, to keep Powell in check. When the 9/11 terror attacks happened less than a year into Bush’s presidency, the White House shifted onto a war footing that rested on the shaky hypothesis that Iraq might have been behind the attacks and the stakes were too high to wait for definitive proof.

Did Powell support Bush?

Once Bush decided to go into Iraq with military action, Powell supported the president even though he had been opposed. Asked if he should have quit, he protested that the initial military action had been successful and it was “lack of planning” for what followed that allowed things to spiral out of control. “And to quit while it was underway was not my way of doing business in serving in the administration,” he said at Aspen in 2007.

What did Webster tell the president and his team?

Webster told the president and his team that the Iraqis were posed to overrun the Gulf. There would be no more warning time. The moment of truth was imminent. Sitting behind the director in the cabinet room of the West Wing I thought this is the most important intelligence judgment of my career. The stakes were enormous.

Who was the driving force behind the Desert Shield?

Powell was the driving force behind Desert Shield. He was determined that the forces sent to the Persian Gulf be strong enough to easily destroy the Iraqis if war commenced. No partial deployment.

Did Webster say Iraq would control half of the world's oil?

Powell recalled that Webster said Iraq would control almost half of the world’s oil. “The CIA Director gave us a bleak status report. The Iraqis are within eight tenths of a mile of the Saudi border.” The danger was acute.

What was Colin Powell's military career?

Early Military Career. Reagan and Bush Administrations. Iraq Controversy. Retirement. Jamaican-American military official and diplomat Colin Powell was born in New York in 1937. After serving two tours in Vietnam, he ascended the military ranks while earning positions at the Pentagon and the Department of Defense.

What did Colin Powell get wounded by?

That same year, he was one of 16,000 advisers sent to South Vietnam by President John Kennedy. In 1963, Powell was wounded by a punji-stick booby trap while patrolling the Vietnamese-Laotian border. During this first tour of duty, he was awarded a Purple Heart and, a year later, a Bronze Star.

Why did Powell go to war with Bush?

Bush decided to go to war and, in a crucial moment, Powell agreed to support the president. To advance the case for war with the international community, Powell appeared before the U.N. Security Council in February 2003 to present evidence that Iraq had concealed an ongoing weapons development program.

Why did Colin Powell resign?

Bush’s secretary of state in 2000, but resigned in 2004 after acknowledging his defense of an Iraq invasion was based on faulty information.

Why did Colin Powell come under fire?

During his tenure, Powell came under fire for his role in building the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Initially, Powell had serious misgivings about President Bush’s plan to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein. Powell believed the policy of containment was sufficient to control the Iraqi regime.

How many children does Colin Powell have?

While stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Colin Powell met Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama, and they married in 1962. The couple now has three children: son Michael, and daughters Linda and Annemarie. That same year, he was one of 16,000 advisers sent to South Vietnam by President John Kennedy.

When did Colin Powell join the Senate?

In September 2006, Powell joined moderate Senate Republicans in supporting more rights and better treatment for detainees at the Guantanamo detention facility. In October 2008, Colin Powell made headlines again when he announced his endorsement of Barack Obama for president.

Who said "We are Mr President"?

Brent Scowcroft led off the meeting and Brent said "We are...Mr President," solemnly he said, "Mr President, we are at a Y in the road. Down one branch we can continue sanctions, which was the policy, and we can just be prepared to defend Saudi Arabia.

Did Powell jump the gun on the politics of it?

Powell: Jumping the gun on the politics of it. I mean there had been no suggestion that we were going to undertake any political or diplomatic activity to issue a warning or a threat to him. Quite the contrary, all those political signals we were getting were to the contrary. And so we were uneasy about starting military actions that might make a bad situation worse.

How did Colin Powell die?

Colin Powell — a former U.S. military general who became America’s first Black secretary of state — died Oct. 18 at age 84 of complications related to COVID-19, according to a statement released by his family the same day. Powell had reportedly undergone treatment for a blood cancer called multiple myeloma, leaving his immune system weakened.

What did Powell say about Iraq?

5, 2003, before the U.N. Security Council, Powell presented intelligence that Iraq’s government possessed ties to Al Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction, including evidence that was later revealed to be “a complete fabrication,” Wilkerson told FRONTLINE.

Who chose Powell to make the case for war before the United Nations?

What happened in the subsequent months was detailed in the September 2021 FRONTLINE documentary America After 9/11: President George W. Bush chose Powell to make the administration’s case for war before the United Nations in a February 2003 speech, relying on Powell’s formidable reputation.

Is the Gulf War still streaming?

The Gulf War, among other documentaries involving Powell, is no longer streaming, but you can read transcripts of the two-part film here and here, as well as Powell’s interview for the film, and explore 2006’s The Dark Side and 2008’s Bush’s War. For more context, read a 2002 interview in which Powell described the process of putting together an international coalition to fight terrorism after Sept. 11, and a 2016 interview in which he discussed his U.N. speech. And stream America After 9/11 and other FRONTLINE documentaries illuminating Powell’s legacy below.

Where did Cheney and Powell go to celebrate the Persian Gulf War?

In 2011, both Cheney and Powell were invited to George H.W. Bush’s presidential library in College Station, Texas, for a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Persian Gulf War. Neither of them wanted to participate if the other planned to attend. “That was a murderously hard negotiation,” said Ryan Crocker of Texas A&M University, host of the event.

Who was the first president to name Powell as his secretary of state?

A decade later, Bush’s son George W. won the White House himself, with Cheney as his uniquely powerful vice president. As his first Cabinet appointment, Bush 43 named Powell his secretary of state.

Who is the actor in The Great Rift?

In “ The Great Rift ” (Henry Holt ), out Tuesday, James Mann traces the parallel careers of Cheney and Powell, partners who descended into rancorous infighting that harmed them both — and, Mann contends, the nation as well — in a battle that exposed foreign-policy fault lines that Donald Trump would later highlight in his own rise to power.

Who was the press darling from the Bronx?

Powell, the affable press darling from The Bronx, was an astute military officer steeped in conventional Washington wisdom. Or, as Cheney once sneered, “attuned to public approval”— for him, Mann notes, “the ultimate insult.”

Who was the CIA agent who criticized Bush's anti-Iraq evidence?

The internal finger-pointing in the wake of the WMD debacle led directly to the outing of Valerie Plame , a CIA agent whose husband had criticized Bush’s anti-Iraq evidence. A special prosecutor was soon eyeing Scooter Libby as the suspected leaker. The investigation dragged on for two years, tarring Cheney in the process.

Overview

Early life

Military career

Potential presidential candidate

Secretary of State (2001–2005)

Life after diplomatic service

Political positions

Personal life