Collin PowellEssay Preview: Collin Powell1 rating(s)Report this essaySecretary of State Colin Luther Powell served as national security adviser 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 confirmed 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 spent 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 good 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 mind and leadership abilities made him a conspicuous success in the Armys Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). He graduated from the program in 1958 with the rank 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, while stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Powell met and married Alma Vivian Johnson. The couple had three children.
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Col. John Joseph Thompson, Jr. (Daughter, John D. Thompson) spent time studying at Boston College, Boston University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Massachusetts, the Harvard University Political Science Department, Harvard University, and the St. Francis Xavier School of Global Affairs. Later, in 1968, he became a board member of the International Society for the Study of Radical Islamic Thought (ISI). He served with distinction as President/Chief Executive Officer and the founding Vice President of the International Islamic Society (IFS). Between 1969 and 1971, Powell was director of operations for the New York State Council on Religion (NYST). During that period, his work as an instructor and consultant in Arabic at Brooklyn Christian University and as a lecturer in religion at MIT, worked for the U.S.-based Islamic Society of Boston, and, by 1980, headed the New York Area Council on Religion.
Died September 8, 1978 © The Catholic News Service
Dylan Parker, President/General Counsel for the Church of the American God, died Sept. 8, 1978 at his home in Miami Beach, Florida in New York City, on a motorcycle accident. He was 75.
John Henry Litchfield, President/Vice President of the Catholic Church of North America (CPCMAO), died September 8, 1978 at his house in the San Mateo, California, residence. He was 67.
John P. Campbell, President/Assistant General Counsel, of the Conference of Catholic Bishops (CIBC), died at the age of 72, July 2, 1977, at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. His death was attributed to heart disease, and his death certificate was signed by Cardinal George A. Romero, archbishop and archbishop emeritus of San Francisco.
In addition, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI officiated at the funeral of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. of Montgomery, Alabama, on July 8, 1975. Pope John Paul I officiated at Pope John Paul II’s funeral on July 13, 1975 at the Pontifical Cathedral in Vatican City. Pope Benedict received the news of the funeral at the Catholic Church of North America’s St. James Parish. In the midst of a lengthy list of questions, questions and comments, the Vatican released the following statement to their readers:
The pontiff is buried at this home in the Santa Monica area of San Francisco, on Monday, August 7, 1985, from 14:00 am to 6:00 pm, after much reflection and discussion both with the faithful and their families. Pope John Paul II and Pope St. Paul are buried in another church and that remains of the venerable church in its entirety. The Church also has its funeral at the Catholic Cemetery of Bologna in Barcelona, Catalonia. The Archbishop of Los Angeles, who is the archbishop of this nation, at once addresses the mourners and requests that those who might have been buried in his presence have the opportunity to take the time to reflect and pray before such the memorial service.
With so much thought being dedicated to the life of Pope John Paul I, Pope Innocent XI, and a number of other great human rights and rights leaders, the world has come together to express His deep compassion for these many, many victims of an unjust system that criminalizes and stalks their communities. Pope John Paul II mourns the loss of the father and deacon of our Father in Heaven and with the greatest of gifts, His love, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life.
The life and soul of Pope John Paul II. His name shall forever be remembered in our hearts. Our Pope John Paul II is the
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 more than twelve hundred officers. During a second tour in Vietnam he received the Soldiers Medal for pulling several men from a burning helicopter.
The army then provided Powell the time to study for a Masters degree in business administration at George Washington University. He received the degree in 1971, after which he worked as an analyst at the Pentagon before securing what he called a “dream job”: an appointment as a prestigious White House fellow in the Office of Management and Budget under the director, Caspar Weinberger, and his deputy, Frank Carlucci, two men of rising influence in Washington who perceived Powells uncommon abilities and who would help shape his career. A man of commanding presence at six feet one inch and 200 pounds, Powell was assigned to South Korea in 1973 to command a battalion troubled by racial animosities. “I threw the bums out of the army and put the drug users in jail,” he recalled. “The rest, we ran four miles every morning, and by night they were too tired to get into trouble.” Powells prescription worked, and the tensions that had led to race riots before his arrival abated.
After additional service in Washington and an assignment as a brigade commander in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Powell returned to Washington in the late 1970s, attaining the rank of major general and holding advisory posts in the Pentagon and briefly in the Department of Energy. He next served at Fort Carson, Colorado, and at Fort Leavenworth before becoming military assistant to Weinberger, then secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, in 1983. While Powell was assisting Weinberger, the National Security Council (NSC) began looking at the possibility of sending American missiles to Iran in the hope of expediting the release of American hostages in the Middle East and turned to Powell to provide certain information about the missiles desired by Iran. Powell complied but subsequently questioned the scheme in writing, reminding the NSC leadership that there was a legal obligation to inform Congress of the proposed arms transfer. When it was pointed out that the plan had presidential authorization, Powell did what was requested of him. The illegal missile transfer was later exposed as a key element in the controversial Iran-Contra scandal. Powells demonstrated record of opposition to the illegality of the transfer and his excellent demeanor in testifying before congressional investigating committees served him well. In June 1986 Powell received a choice corps command in West Germany but left it after six months at President Reagans request to become Frank Carluccis deputy on the National Security Council. Carlucci was endeavoring to rebuild the NSC after the Iran-Contra debacle.
In 1987 Powell replaced Carlucci as national security adviser, a post he held for the duration of the Reagan administration. Arms control and attempts to topple the Sandanista government of Nicaragua ranked high on the agendas of Powell and of other key policy-makers during this period. When President-elect George Bush advised Powell that he wished to name his own national security adviser, Powell could have chosen to leave the army to earn a substantial income on the lecture circuit or perhaps in the business world. Money, however, was not sufficient inducement for Powell to retire; promoted to full (four star) general, he took over the armys Forces Command, which had responsibility for overseeing the readiness of over a million regular, reserve, and National Guard personnel based in the United States. Selected over three dozen more senior generals, Powell was nominated by President Bush in 1989 to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the nations most prestigious military position. Powell was the first black officer to hold this post.
As chairman of the JCS, Powell held a key role in formulating and refining plans for the December 1989 operation that eliminated the corrupt Manuel Noriega regime in Panama. Television appearances in which Powell explained the purpose of the operation brought him to the favorable attention of the