Colin Powell: Greatness Passes

This original commentary by Christopher Burnham appeared in Forbes on October 18, 2021.

On the evening of April 13, 2004, Colin Powell sat at his desk in a darkened wood paneled inner office at the State Department with his head in his hands.  Only the green glass shaded desk lamp was on. Rich Armitage, the deputy secretary, had sent me in there to brief the “Boss” on some good news the Department had received because, “He could use cheering -up”.

Powell beckoned me to sit in the chair alongside his desk and I spoke for about a minute.  Without rising, something he would always do when shaking hands, he grasped my hand, said thank you, and I left him in his glumness in the green glow of the room wondering what could possibly be happening in the world that would turn this man of such ebullience into this state of consternation. 

The next morning, the Washington Post broke the story of Bob Woodward’s book, Plan of Attack, that depicted Powell as having broken with President Bush over the decision to invade Iraq, and saying that Powell was barely on speaking terms with Vice President Cheney. Powell was in the midst of damage control at 7pm, when I had walked into his office.

Every morning at 7:30am, Powell would meet with his senior staff and “go around the world” as each assistant secretary or undersecretary had a minute or two to brief the Secretary on those issues critical in their area of responsibility.  To drone on too long, or to convey too inconsequential a topic could easily provoke guffaws from the crowd, thus forcing a focus on only those issues most pertinent to the department’s top leadership. 

That morning the room was silent as collectively we wondered if Powell would be forced to resign. Powell entered the room, uncharacteristically late, moving to the head of the table, walking with a lion-like stride, sat down and said, “Last week a book came out that rocked Washington. Can anyone tell me the title of that book?”  Silence met Powell’s question. “So even though I have some of the smartest people in America around me”, he said, “not one of you can tell me the title of that book from last week?  Well, there is another big story today, but this is Washington, and it will be gone by next week.  We have a job to do, so let’s stay focused and get to work.”

Powell had lead in his keel, more than any man I have ever met.  No matter how harsh the storm, Powell’s ballast kept him from getting knocked down or blown off course. He had everything you could ever want in a leader, from vast public policy experience to service in the military including in combat.  He had witnessed America at its greatest but also at the nadir of Vietnam. 

The shame was that he was never our president. I asked him once why he never ran, and he said, “I’ve thought about it every way possible, but the reality is that I’ve dragged Alma around the country for thirty-five years, and I can’t put her through what that means”.

Today is a loss to our country because we will no longer have his insight; but the greater loss was that this American giant was never elected president. He was the greatest man I ever met.