Very often I've been given assignments that were good assignments that people said, 'Well, you know why Powell got that job. They needed a black guy.' And-- my answer to that when I hear these rumors coming back, 'You know, that's why you got the job, 'cause you're black and they needed a black.' I just smile and say, 'Well, fine. For 200 years I didn't get the job because they needed all whites. So I'm not gonna argue about that. The only thing that's going to count now is not, 'I got the job' or 'I didn't get the job' or 'How I got the job.' The only thing that's going to count is my performance. 
-- Colin Powell
Colin Powell was born April 5, 1937 in Harlem, New York to two Jamaican immigrants. Upon graduating high school, Powell enrolled at the City College of New York, where he found his calling when he joined the Reserve Officers Training Corps. Upon his graduation from CCNY in 1958, Powell was the highest rank in his corps, the cadet colonel.
Powell spent 35 years in the military, rising through the ranks and eventually becoming a 4-star General. In his final military assignment in 1991 under President George H.W. Bush, he assumed the highest military position in the Department of Defense, the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This role
coincided with the victorious Operation Desert Storm. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to become the Secretary of State in 2000, still the highest rank ever held by an African-American in the United States government.
Though he stepped down from his position once President Bush was reelected in 2004, Powell still continues to have a presence in today's public affairs. Throughout his distinguished career, Powell has won numerous military and civilian awards including a Purple Heart, a Bronze medal, two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President's Citizens Medal, and the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal.
Powell spent 35 years in the military, rising through the ranks and eventually becoming a 4-star General. In his final military assignment in 1991 under President George H.W. Bush, he assumed the highest military position in the Department of Defense, the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This role
coincided with the victorious Operation Desert Storm. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to become the Secretary of State in 2000, still the highest rank ever held by an African-American in the United States government.
Though he stepped down from his position once President Bush was reelected in 2004, Powell still continues to have a presence in today's public affairs. Throughout his distinguished career, Powell has won numerous military and civilian awards including a Purple Heart, a Bronze medal, two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President's Citizens Medal, and the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal.
