The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022 37 A Confident Visionary Colin Powell was a committed optimist. ■ He believed in the goodness of our great nation and in its positive role in the world. It is not an accident that he was the founding chair of an organization called America’s Promise. He believed in the Army in the way I believe in the Foreign Service. I was sorry that he went back to being General Powell after his service as Secre- tary, but I understood why. ■ He believed in education as the founda- tion of a better future. He always used the words “professional education” to describe the work being done at the Foreign Service Institute. He would often compare his years of professional education in the Army to my several months of training (not counting language training) in the Foreign Service. He expanded his knowledge by acting on his belief that there is something valu- able to learn from everyone. ■ He believed in the power of saying “thank you.” This was his habit at the State Department and on his visits to our embassies overseas. He never forgot to recognize the crucial part fami- lies play in the success of the State Department. ■ He believed in young people. This is the core principle of America’s Promise. You can also grasp this belief in the statement made on his death by the dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City Col- lege of New York, Andrew Rich: “When it came to college, it was CCNY or nowhere. He found ROTC here, and he discovered his purpose and direction. General Powell com- mitted himself to every student who walked through our doors. He’d hear their stories and tell them his own. He would encour- age them to work hard and pursue their dreams. He always reminded them—and all of us—that ‘they’re just like I was’ some 65 years ago.” Colin Powell was not perfect. He fulfilled his duty in October 2002 to make the case at the United Nations for an invasion of Iraq, despite his doubts (which turned out to be well founded) about the intelligence supporting his presentation. He made the case as carefully as he could, but he knew then that his obituary would prominently feature this act. And so it did. In the years after his service at the State Department, Gen- eral Powell invited several of us to lunch from time to time, Secretary of State Colin Powell walks with Indonesian President Susilo Yudhoyono (on Powell’s immediate left) after departing his plane in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, on Jan. 5. 2005, days after the deadly tsunami struck. Powell and Yudhoyono met to discuss future U.S. aid to the area. PJFMILITARYCOLLECTION/ALAMY including this past summer. It was a pleasure to see his smile and to hear his stories. A Fitting Tribute Our collective memory is that Secretary Powell was a cham- pion of the Foreign Service. It is manifestly true that he did an enormous amount for the Service and for the State Department. But he was also realistic about the Foreign Service’s strengths and foibles. He admired the Foreign Service, especially its indi- viduals; but he knew change was required. He challenged us to be better. To take professional education seriously. To be more diverse and inclusive. To respect the Civil Service. To change a risk-averse culture. These issues sound familiar because they are still relevant. It would be a fitting tribute to Colin Powell to make serious progress on all of them. n