Colin Powell And Condoleezza Rice Chosen By Bush For Top Foreign Policy Posts

Jet, Jan 8, 2001

President-elect George W. Bush recently nominated retired Gen. Colin Powell for secretary of state and Stanford University political science professor Condoleezza Rice for his national security adviser, two major posts overseeing foreign affairs in the new Bush administration.

The stellar pair of achievers who fought their way to the top by sweat and brainpower were the first picks in the "diversified administration" of the president-elect who said his selections give the message "People that work hard and make the right decisions in life can achieve anything they want in America."

Both previously served in posts under former President George Bush's administration.

Upon Senate confirmation, Powell will become the first Black ever to be named secretary of state, fourth in the constitutional line of succession to the presidency. At 63, he will bring 35 years of military experience to the top post in the U.S. Department of State.

Often considered the most respected Black man in the nation's White community, Powell, a hero of the Persian Gulf War, is a decorated infantry officer, and has served as an Army Corps commander, national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and adviser to three Presidents--Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

He was twice awarded the U.S. Medal of Freedom--by President George Bush in 1991 and President Bill Clinton in 1995--and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1993.

So universally respected is Powell that some factions tried to convince him to run for president twice--in 1996 and 2000, but he declined the offers. He also was offered the job of secretary of state once before, in 1994 by President Clinton, when Warren Christopher considered leaving, but the retired general declined that overture as well.

The son of Jamaican immigrants, Luther and Maud Powell, was born in Harlem and reared in a racially diverse neighborhood in the South Bronx. His father had numerous labor jobs and worked as a shipping clerk and foreman in Manhattan's garment district; his mother was a seamstress.

He earned his bachelor's degree from the City University of New York, where he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps program (ROTC) that launched his brilliant military career. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, afar which he earned a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University in 1971.

He later held a succession of posts at the Pentagon, including military assistant to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and national security adviser in the Reagan administration where he was awarded his fourth star. He was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Bush administration in 1989-the youngest ever-and kept the post under the Clinton administration until his retirement in 1993.

Since 1997, Powell has headed America's Promise: The Alliance for Youth, an organization that works with corporations, charities and communities to encourage volunteerism to help disadvantaged youth.

"His entire life has prepared him to fulfill the responsibilities that he will soon hold," said Bush in announcing Powell's nomination during a ceremony at a school auditorium in Crawford, TX, near Bush's ranch.

"General Powell is an American hero, an American example and a great American story. It's a great day when a son of the South Bronx succeeds to the office first held by Thomas Jefferson," he added.

"This is a moment of great opportunity and my administration will seize it. America has unique power and unmatched influence. And we will use them in the service of democracy, spreading peace across the world and across the years.

"In this cause I've known of no better person to be the face and voice of American diplomacy than Colin L. Powell. Wherever he goes and whomever he meets, the world will see the finest of the United States of America."

Responding to Bush's nomination, Powell thanked the president-elect "for the confidence that you have placed in me and I look forward to serving you, the American people and the cause of peace and freedom around the world.... I think these are promising times, times of great opportunity, but times also of challenge and danger. We are up to the task."

In closing, Powell added: "I would just like to note that in the newspaper stories that will be written about this occasion, they will say that Colin Powell is the first African-American to ever hold the position of secretary of state. And I'm glad they will say that, and I want it repeated.

"I want it repeated because I hope it will give inspiration to young African-Americans coming along-but beyond that, all young Americans coming along--that no matter where you began in this country, with hard work and with dedication and with the opportunities that are presented by this society, there are no limitations on you."

Married to Alma (Johnson) Powell since 1962, they have three children, Michael, Linda and Annemarie.

One of the few Black women to distinguish themselves in the sphere of international relations, Ms. Rice, 46, and single, served as a senior Russian-affairs staff-adviser for the National Security Council under former President George Bush from 1989-1991.