The Foreign Service Journal, February 2005

and he invested time in showing it. It made a tremendous difference in State morale. And Secretary Powell combined those skills with his prestige to shake the money tree in Congress for more personnel and resources, and thus made the greatest contribution to institution-building for the State Department of any Secretary since George Shultz. That is a mighty legacy for us at State and for the nation. We owe Colin Powell a tremendous debt of thanks and respect. But in policy he largely failed. He lost more battles than he won in this administration. The odds were against him as Dick Cheney reinforced Don Rumsfeld. Yet Secretary Powell never played his ace-in-the-hole— the threat of res- ignation as a source of leverage against an administration whose president was less popular than Powell, and who, in fact, had been elected only because Colin Powell turned down Republican offers of the presidential nomination in 2000. Instead, true to his military back- ground, Secretary Powell stuck to the “George Marshall” model as a team player who saluted and got on board whenever he lost. In normal circumstances one under- stands that instinct. But given the compre- hensive failures in foreign policy of this administration, such a compliant attitude on the part of a political “heavyweight” must be ranked as a failure of judgment on his part. So we at State will always love Colin Powell as a hero who cared about our institution, and left it far healthier than he found it, yet failed to stem the tide of foreign pol- icy disasters occasioned by the administration which he served — failed because the odds were stacked against him, but also because he was unwilling to play the ulti- mate card he had in order to “push the envelope.” Marc E. Nicholson FSO, retired Washington, D.C. n F O C U S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 59 SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE AMERICA S I NCE 1 9 7 1 2004 represents our 34 th year helping to maintain America’s fleet of vehicles throughout the world. All of us at D & M consider it an honor to have worked with all of you through these years. We are aware of the importance of your official and private vehicles, forklifts, generators, tools and equipment. We look forward to continuing this service in a professional manner. We are here to help, just ask! Gary Vlahov www.dmauto.com (516) 822-6662; FAX: (516) 822-5020; E-mail: info@dmauto.com He asked jovially, “What, you don’t think I can take a message?”