Colin Powell obituary
Colin Powell, who has died aged 84 from complications of Covid-19, rose higher in public office than any previous black American, the youngest chair of the joint chiefs of staff. Then, when the second Bush administration emerged from the controversial election of 2000, the new president chose Powell as the first black secretary of state.
To outsiders it might have seemed a dream come true. For Powell it gradually turned into a nightmare. When he resigned after Bush's re-election in 2004, he left as one of America's least successful diplomats. His mistake lay in trying to bring a voice of reason to an administration that had no wish to hear it. The opening days of the Bush presidency demonstrated how ideology and nationalism would play a far greater role in US foreign policy. The White House quickly repudiated its predecessor's commitments to policies ranging from global warming to international trade.
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