The Foreign Service Journal, February 2005

22 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 5 F O C U S O N T H E P O W E L L L E G A C Y T HE F AILURE OF C OLIN P OWELL istory will judge Colin Powell’s tenure as Secretary of State to have been somewhere between a failure and a fraud. That will seem like a harsh assessment, especially to those who have worked with Powell. Historians are shielded from the background noise of current events, however, as well as the bias that comes with personal involvement. They will consider the record of the past four years and find it wanting because they will look at all the facts. They won’t ignore some of them, as many do today, sim- ply because they are inconvenient. Democratic politicians praise Powell because doing so highlights the dominance of Bush administration policy by the hard-liners. Republicans say he was a great suc- cess because they want to paint a positive picture of the administration’s diplomatic achievements. Many in the media avoid negative reporting on Powell in the name of being fair and balanced, especially those who are nothing more than propaganda outlets for the “official line.” Some commentators will be reluctant to be hard on him because there is a certain political incor- rectness to criticizing the first African-American Secretary of State. After all, his career reflects what Americans want to believe about their country. The son of immigrants rising to the highest levels of government is the American Dream, if not the American reality. Finally, those who work at State will be reluctant to speak ill of him because he was a good boss. He was the kind of general who always took care of his troops. His stature helped boost State’s budget, allowing equipment upgrades and additional hiring. He attended functions where secretaries had rarely been sighted, such as the ceremonies for swearing in new ambassadors and honor- ing retirees. He also made the small gestures of consideration that set him apart from those secretaries who treated the department’s employees with a mixture of disinterest and distrust. For instance, he obtained the money to allow business-class travel on long flights and then ensured that perk would not be denied to junior personnel by requir- ing permission be sought to fly in coach on such flights. Letting Himself Be Used Some in the Foreign Service will not want to see Powell’s record attacked because he provided the ratio- nale for justifying their own actions. After all, it takes a H C OMPARISONS OF C OLIN P OWELL TO ANOTHER GENERAL WHO SERVED AS S ECRETARY OF S TATE , G EORGE C. M ARSHALL , ONLY HIGHLIGHT P OWELL ’ S SQUANDERED LEGACY . B Y D ENNIS J ETT