Colin Powell Who Firmed About His Calling

General Colin Powell was not only a successful military soldier, but also politician, diplomat, and statesman.

In the 1995s, he was a presidential icon and considered the most trusted man in the United States.

The author of this book, Jeffrey J. Matthews, wrote, “The Republicans, including some stalwart conservatives, also wanted Powell on board in any way they could entice him: as a governor, a senator, as vice president, or even president.”

Countless journalists had imagined him as a presidential candidate, one who would be supported by both Republican and Democratic voters. This is rare for a candidate who gets support from both parties.

U.S. News & World Report had published the cover story “Colin Powell Superstar: From Pentagon to the White House?”

But Powell resisted.

When he became the frontrunner in preliminary presidential election polls, he announced, “Ultimately, I had to look deep into my own soul, standing aside from the expectations and enthusiasms of others. Presidential politics is a calling I do not yet hear. And for me to pretend otherwise would not be honest to myself, it would not be honest to the American people.”

Powell, at that time was fifteen points ahead of Bill Clinton in the presidential race, stepped aside to open the path for the 2^nd term of Clinton. He chose to remain America’s “mystery man” until one day in 2001 George W. Bush asked him to be the secretary of state.

It's all about trust. And more than twenty years after that, the trust that American people put on Colin Powell remains alive. The Washington Post wrote an article on 19 Oct 2021 (written by columnist Kathleen Parker a day after Powell’s death) titled “Americans trust no one today as they trusted Colin Powell”.

Despite the success story, this book also criticizes Powell as one of the inner circle in the Bush administration in relation to the decision to invade Iraq. “Defender in Chief” --the final chapter of this book-- tells how Powell was very busy going everywhere to defend the policy and his boss. He indeed realized that and said, “Whether the going was rough or smooth, I always tried to do my best and to be loyal to my superior and the mission given to me.”

Powell was indeed an extraordinary man, but he was still an imperfect patriot.

***

Serpong, 10 Apr 2024

Titus J.

Comments

Eisenhower, The Top Figure Army General, The Modest President

This is a portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower, a young dreamer, charting a course from Abilene, Kansas, to West Point and beyond. Before becoming the 34th president (two terms from 1953 to 1961), Ike –as he was called– was a five-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. This book reveals the journey of the man who worked with incredible subtlety to move events in the direction he wished them to go. In both war and peace, he gave the world confidence in American leadership. In the war period, Ike commanded the largest multinational force ever assembled to fight German troops in leading the Western powers to victory. During his presidency, he ended a three-year war in Korea with honor and dignity. Not a single American died in combat for the next eight years. He resisted calls for preventive war against the Soviet Union and China, faced down Khruschev over Berlin, and restored stability in Leban...

Bertrand Russell Critical Analysis on Western Philosophy

“Philosophy is something intermediate between theology and science,” said Bertrand Russell. Theology and science occupy their own territory. All definite knowledge belongs to science, all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. Between theology and science there is No Man’s Land, exposed to attack from both sides. For that the philosophy is present. The No Man’s Land is philosophy. Then he added, “Philosophical conceptions are a product of two factors: one, inherited religious and ethical conceptions; the other, the sort of investigation which may be called ‘scientific’.” Bertrand Russell who was born in 1872, he himself was a British philosopher as well as mathematician, logician, historian, writer, and social critic. In this book, which was firstly published in 1945, Russell divided the philosophy chronologically into three parts: Ancient Philosophy, Catholic Philosophy and Modern Philosophy. This book is a widely read and influential philosophical history ...

Perhentian Ahok di KM 19.4

Ketika angka quick count hasil perolehan suara Pilkada Jakarta 19 April yang lalu menunjukkan 42 persen untuk Ahok-Djarot dan 58 persen untuk Anies-Sandi, banyak yang terkesima, sedih, dan tak sedikit yang menangis. Herannya, yang menangis bukan hanya orang Jakarta, tetapi juga mereka yang tinggal di luar Jakarta, bahkan luar negeri. Media sosial riuh-rendah dengan komentar, seolah tak percaya dengan angka yang terpampang di televisi dan berseliweran melalui WhatsApp group. Di saat itulah tiba-tiba kita merasakan ada sesuatu yang hilang - sesuatu yang pernah kita miliki, yang pernah mewarnai denyut kehidupan kita walau hanya lewat surat kabar dan media sosial, dan sesuatu yang selalu kita rasakan kehadirannya walaupun jarak memisahkan. Kita – bukan cuma orang Jakarta tetapi siapapun yang selama empat tahunan ini menyemai harapan dan optimisme, tiba-tiba secara bersamaan membisikkan tanya, “Bagaimana rupa Jakarta nanti tanpa Ahok?” Tanggal 19 April itu seperti satu titik di ...

Titus Jonathan's Stories

Search This Blog