What You Should Know About Colin Powell’s Life: War Veteran, First Black Secretary of State, and Former Republican

(CNN) – Here’s a look at the life of Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State who helped shape American foreign policy in the late 20th century and early 21st, who died at 84 years.

Personal information

Date of birth: April 5, 1937

Date of death: October 18, 2021

Place of birth: Harlem, New York

Birth name: Colin Luther Powell

Dad: Luther Powell, Shipbuilding Employee

Mother: Maud Ariel (McKoy) Powell, seamstress

Marriage: Alma Vivian (Johnson) Powell (August 25, 1962)

Sons: Annemarie, Linda and Michael

Studies: City College of New York, BA in Geology, 1958; George Washington University, Master of Business Administration, 1971; National War School, 1976

Military service: United States Army, 1958-1993, obtaining the rank of general

Other data

Powell grew up in the South Bronx, New York City, and was the son of Jamaican immigrants.

He was part of the Reserve Officer Training Corps while in college, reaching the highest rank the corps offers, that of Colonel Cadet.

He fought in the Vietnam War and his military accolades include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, the Soldier’s Medal and two Purple Hearts, awarded after being wounded in combat.

Civilian awards include the President’s Citizen Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal, and the Secretary of Energy’s Distinguished Service Medal, as well as receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in two occasions.

Powell was the youngest person and the first black man to be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He was also the first black secretary of state.

Chronology

June 1958 – He is appointed second lieutenant in the United States Army.

1960s – Serves twice in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

1963 – Powell is wounded in Vietnam by a Viet Cong trap.

1969 – Powell is injured again in Vietnam in a helicopter accident. Rescue two other soldiers in the accident.

1972-1973 – As a White House Fellow, he works for Frank Carlucci, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget under Caspar Weinberger.

1976-1977 – Commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division.

1979 – Executive Assistant to Charles Duncan Jr., Secretary of Energy.

1979-1981 – Senior Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense.

1981-1983 – Assistant Commandant of the 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colorado.

1983-1986 – Senior Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense Weinberger.

1986-1987 – He is assigned to the 5th United States Corps in Frankfurt, Germany.

November 1987-January 1989 – National Security Advisor to the President Ronald Reagan.

1989-1994 – Commander-in-Chief of Force Command at Ft. McPherson, Georgia.

October 1, 1989 – September 30, 1993 – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1991 – Oversees Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations in Kuwait and Iraq during the Gulf War.

1993 – He retires from the Army with the rank of four-star general.

1993 – He is appointed Honorary Knight of the Order of the Bath by the Queen of England, Isabel II.

1994 – Negotiates with the military leaders of Haiti the peaceful return of the president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, ending the need for an American invasion of the country.

nineteen ninety five – Publish your memoirs, “My American Journey”, along with Joseph E. Persico.

1997 – Start the “America’s Promise Alliance”, initiative to promote volunteering and improve the lives of children.

1997 – It is created in the City College of New York the Colin Powell Center for Political Studies, which has merged with the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.

July 30, 2000 – Delivers keynote address at the Republican National Convention in support of George W. Bush.

January 20, 2001 – He is unanimously appointed and confirmed as Secretary of State.

January 26, 2001 – He is sworn in as the 65th Secretary of State of the United States.

February 5, 2003 – Powell addresses the United Nations Security Council to present the case of the United States against Iraq under UN Resolution 1441 on weapons of mass destruction.

December 15, 2003 – He undergoes prostate cancer surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He was diagnosed with the disease earlier in the year.

November 15, 2004 – The White House announces that President Bush has accepted Powell’s resignation letter dated November 12. The letter states that he will remain in office until his successor is confirmed.

January 26, 2005 – Powell’s resignation becomes effective upon confirmation of Condoleezza Rice.

2005 – Joins Californian venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers as “limited strategic partner.”

March 2006 – The National War College Foundation creates the Colin Powell Chair in Homeland Security, Leadership, Character and Ethics.

Summer 2007 – He begins to demonstrate against the Bush administration’s decision to go to the war against Iraq, the increase in troops in Iraq and the treatment of prisons in the Guantanamo Bay.

January 20, 2009 – He is one of the honorary co-chairs of the inauguration of the president Barack Obama. Powell supported Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.

February 3, 2010 – Powell changes his stance on gays and lesbians in the military; his opposition to homosexuals in the military contributed to the original “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the 1990s.

2012 – Publish a second memoir, “It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership“, along with Tony Koltz.

October 7, 2018 – Powell, along with the former secretaries of state Hillary clinton and Madeleine albright makes an appearance on the CBS show “Madame Secretary”.

June 1, 2019 – Along with his wife Alma, Powell receives the Lincoln Medal, an award given by the Ford Theater Society. The society celebrates those who embody the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln.

January 10, 2021 – Behind the deadly insurrection in the United States Capitol, Powell says that already he does not consider himself a republican.

October 18, 2021 – Collin Powell dies at 84 from complications from Covid-19, his family reported on Facebook. He suffered from multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer that suppresses the body’s immune response, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.