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Will he run? Polls show Gen. Colin Powell could win 1996 presidential election - if he decides to run
Current Events, Oct 9, 1995
WASHINGTON, D.C. - To be born poor and black and into an inner city neighborhood does not mean you can't achieve your highest ambitions.
If you don't believe that, just ask Gen. Colin Powell. Powell was born 58 years ago in New York City's Harlem. But through a combination of ability and hard work, he rose to become chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff - the highest position in the U.S. military. Now polls show that General Powell has a good chance of capturing an even higher office - the office of President of the United States. A Time/CNN poll shows that, if Gen. Powell were to run today as a Republican, he would beat President Clinton by 51 percent of the vote to 41 percent.
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He Will Decide Next Month
But will he run? General Powell says he will decide by the end of next month. Experts are already betting that he will run - as a Republican. That means he will have to enter a number of primaries (votes among party members to choose a candidate) beginning next February and March.
If Powell succeeds in the primaries and captures the Republican nomination, he will become the first African American to run for president as a major party candidate.
Of course, coming out on top in polls taken today are a far cry from being elected president next November. Critics argue that Powell is popular now because many people do not know his position on major campaign issues - such as crime, abortion rights, welfare, and affirmative action. And, of course, no one knows how good General Powell would be as a campaigner.
Nevertheless, even those who do not support Powell's candidacy see his life story as an inspiration for all Americans, black and white.
Beating the Odds
General Powell has just written his life story in My American Journey, now a best-selling book. In the book, he describes his humble beginnings. His father, Luther Theophilus Powell, came to the United States from Jamaica on a banana boat in 1920, at age 22. Colin's mother, Arie, arrived from Jamaica four years later. They met and married in New York City in 1929.
Powell's parents might have been poor. But they were full of hope and ambition. They found work in New York's garment district-the part of the city where clothes are made. Powell's father worked as a clerk. His mother brought home sewing.
"We were always aware that we were a family," Colin Powell recall. "We learned early that we did not stand alone,... that you did not let the family down...."
He says family had one firm rule: "You will use to the best of your ability what God has given you. And most specifically, you cannot drop out of school. If you do, the entire extended family will come down on you."
Even though that was the rule, Colin had trouble with it as a teen. He wasn't a good student. He didn't have definite goals. He straggled through junior high school and high school, and just barely got into the City College of New York (CCNY), where his grades hovered around C.
He Discovers the Army
Then Powell discovered the military. While at CCNY, he joined the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps).
"Suddenly everything clicked. I had found something I was good at For the first time, in the military, I always knew what was expected of me. Without ROTC, I'm not sure I would have stayed in school.'
He was a star from the start in ROTC and joined the Army upon graduation in 1961. He felt then that the Army presented the best opportunity for blacks.
Powell served with distinction in the Vietnam War and, in 1972, was selected to go to Washington as a White House Fellow - one of a group of young people specially selected to help the White House staff.
Youngest General in History
In 1979, at age 42, Powell became the youngest brigadier (one-star) general in U.S. history. Four years later, in 1983, he earned a second star, and a third in 1986. In 1987, President Reagan was so impressed with Powell that he made him his national security advisor - a top White House position. In 1989, Reagan made Powell a four-star general and appointed him chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - a position he held until he retired in 1993. As Chairman, he led the U.S. to victory in the 1990-91 Persian-Gulf war.
"I have lived the American dream," says General Powell, who often talks about how it was possible for "a black kid born in Harlem" to beat the odds and become "the No. 1 person in the armed forces of the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth."
Now, at age 58, General Powell ponders a run for the presidency of the United States - the highest office in the country. He believes he could help heal a country wounded by crime, drugs, and racial divisions. He says that if he runs and is elected, he will work to promote the family values and work habits that made his own life such a success.
If he enters the 1996 presidential race, says the retired general, it will be to win.
"You don't [run for president] to fool around," Powell told a magazine reporter. "You do it to win. That's a pretty good rule for life as wee as for military operations."
