Colin Powell, US military and political leader, dies 0:59
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Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and the author of the book "" Abraham Joshua Heschel: A life of Radical Amazement. ""
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(CNN) -
General Colin Powell, former secretary of state and head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who died this Monday at age 84 due to complications from Covid-19, was one of the most fascinating figures in the world. Contemporary American Political History.
Representing a type of voice that has faded from his party, Powell described himself as "a Republican of a more moderate mold," one of the voices that urged the "Party of Lincoln" not to become the "Party of Lincoln". Trump ”.
What You Should Know About Colin Powell's Life: War Veteran, First Black Secretary of State, and Former Republican
Yet like many prominent leaders, Powell also learned that you cannot escape the weight of history when tied to the troubled legacy of a president he served.
Regardless of an individual's contributions and track record, being at the center of disastrous decisions for the nation forever shapes how that person will be remembered.
And this is true of Powell's case.
Powell, who was raised by Jamaican immigrant parents in the South Bronx and graduated from the City College of New York, was a star in the military after Vietnam, paving a way for black leaders (military and otherwise) in Washington. .
After serving in that troubled war during the 1960s, he became the first black national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan and the first black chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George HW Bush, serving as the charge when the United States launched and won the first Gulf War.
Powell was also a major player in the negotiations that culminated in a major arms deal with the Soviet Union in 1987, the beginning of the end of the Cold War. He also promoted the "Powell Doctrine," which stipulated that the United States should only use military force when necessary. When the US government takes that step, it should only do so with a clear objective and popular support, and only when it is possible to use overwhelming force and decisive numbers of soldiers.
In the 1990s, there was continual speculation that he would run for president as a candidate for the Republican Party. He remained one of the most popular potential candidates who many believed could strengthen and expand Reagan's coalition, even moving away from the kind of politics of racial reaction and climate change denial that had become so prevalent in the Republican Party. "It's surprising that a guy with such moderate views is so popular with Republicans," said one prominent pollster.
He was about to run as a candidate in 1996, but chose not to, saying he did not feel the "passion and commitment" necessary to take up the challenge.
Under the presidency of George W. Bush, Powell became the first black person to be appointed as secretary of state.
Powell's difficult moment
But then came his most difficult moment, one that will surely be the center of debate as the nation mourns his death. Powell had opposed the war against Iraq. It was the only voice in the administration that opposed hawks who wanted to expand the war on terror to include states like Iraq and North Korea. "If you break it, you take over," he warned the president. But in the end, Powell decided it was his duty to be loyal to the administration he worked for. As Secretary of State to George W. Bush, Powell appeared at the United Nations on February 5, 2003, to speak in favor of going to war with Iraq.
At a time when the administration was eager for international support for a war that most thought had little to do with the horrific 9/11 attacks, Powell's 75-minute hearing was extremely important.
Because of his influence as a military leader and trusted public official, the fact that he said on the public scene that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al-Qaeda terrorists greatly boosted the president's arguments.
As West Ends "War on Terror", Jihadists Fill Void, UN Warns
What the public did not know was that the intelligence data used was flawed and that the arguments for war were very slim.
But it served to lay the groundwork for the US invasion of Iraq.
Soon after, the nation entered a war that would last until 2011.
Powell called the testimony a "blemish" on his record.
But it was much more than that.
When the war turned into a military disaster for the United States and it became clear that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction, Powell's own political position took a devastating blow.
His ability to speak within the party with the same level of seriousness suffered, and his name quickly faded from discussions of presidential nominations.
It also hurt the Republican Party.
As the pace of radicalization accelerated within the party, and most leaders embraced a political agenda to the right and a destructive approach to partisan politics, one of the most influential voices lobbying against these currents had fallen out of favor.
Nonetheless, Powell remained a voice of reason in the political sphere.
He continued to urge his party to address climate change, to support gun control and abortion rights, to support immigrants and policies that helped achieve racial equality.
He respected traditional government processes, including relying on talented experts, and believed that the United States had to work with its allies.
As his party veered further to the right, Powell began to favor the Democrats.
In 2008, he supported Barack Obama for the presidency against John McCain.
Most recently, in 2020, he said he would vote for Joe Biden because Trump had "walked away" from the Constitution.
Colin Powell: Trump has "walked away"
of the Constitution
In January 2021, following the January 6 uprising, Powell told CNN's Fareed Zakaria: "I can't call myself a Republican anymore. I'm not a supporter of anything at this time."
Powell's fate is no different from others in the Republican Party who wanted to project a more centrist vision for the party, one that advocated more limited government and confidence in the market, without ending the social safety net and embracing the world of white reactionary politics.
He was a conservative who continued to believe that Washington mattered and that government processes, the basic rules of the game, were important in order to make reasoned decisions.
The tragedy of Powell is that he was one of the few figures in American politics with the kind of dignity and political position that could have changed the trajectory of history.
As a black American with an extraordinarily distinguished record in both the military and the executive branch, he truly had the potential to win at the highest levels of power.
But at a key moment, he joined an administration that used disinformation to sell an unnecessary war, which would have a huge human and budgetary cost, as well as weakening our nation's position abroad.
Powell's testimony was a huge misstep that had huge ramifications for the Republican Party, as well as for our democracy.
Yet over the past 20 years, he has done much to speak out on behalf of America's democratic values, and he has served his nation and his former party.
Colin Powell