Editor’s note: Chatham resident Bob Pearson, who worked for years under Colin Powell, reflects on the lessons of the late diplomat, U.S. Army officer and statesman who died Oct. 18 at age 84.
Last Friday, our country said goodbye to Colin Powell in a powerful and emotional funeral ceremony at Washington’s National Cathedral, America’s home church, where our most distinguished public servants are eulogized. I was fortunate to have been invited to attend that service. These are my personal observations about the legacy Colin Powell left for America.
First, he was our hero and a model for us, old and young, rich and poor, and of every color in America’s spectrum. He personified the dream America always has been. He was an immigrant, he worked at lowly jobs, he transformed the American military and proved that affirmative action would work in the conservative U.S. Army. He graduated from a local college, CCNY in New York, and he embraced his military career with enthusiasm. He understood combat with two tours in Vietnam. He knew the strength and the limits of military force and left us his clear standards regarding the use of our military.
Second, he was a Black man in a white America, yet someone who succeeded because of his belief in the basic values of our country — and because of his belief in himself. As a young officer, he was discriminated against while on duty in the deep South. He never let it faze him. He focused on the objective and never allowed an obstacle to be more important than the goal. He became a model for Black Americans. Perhaps even more so, he taught white Americans that the stereotypes of history and culture in our country about race were illusions and falsehoods. The great barriers he broke down were in institutions not in the streets but were just as powerful.
Third, he was a man of the Center whose American journey was also our American dream. His passing brought into sharp focus the difference between the America he believed in and the America we face today. Now we realize how much we thought that world would just continue, that America’s role was unfulfilled in the world and at home, and that we would make it to that goal line one day. He would tell us now today that the goal is still there, and that we cannot weaken in our determination to make it true.
Finally, he set standards that endure whatever our position in life. The soldier’s first order, he said, was to stand his duty, to hold his post, and perform as required until relieved. In that duty, he might have become President. His nearest figure in American history was Dwight Eisenhower. They both were military leaders who were popular with Americans and principled in conduct. Both emphasized diplomacy and warned of excessive reliance on military might. Had Colin Powell chosen Eisenhower’s route and succeeded, one wonders what course American history might have taken, and how far along we would be today in realizing the American dream for every American.
Bob Pearson, who lives with his wife, Maggie, in Fearrington Village, worked with Colin Powell — first with General Powell at the White House National Security Council in the mid-1980s, and then as Secretary of State Powell when Pearson was American ambassador to Turkey and then Director General of the American diplomatic service during the years 2001-2005.
