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Essentially, Powell believed that it wasn't until all diplomatic, political or economic means had failed that the US should resort to military force. However, once military action was launched, then the maximum force necessary should be deployed to subdue the enemy quickly while minimising US casualties.

There also had to be considerable public support. Much of this thinking was rooted in a determination that the US would no longer find itself bogged down in a long, fruitless conflict as it had in Vietnam. Powell initially opposed the use of force in the Gulf, against the wishes of the then Defence Secretary, Dick Cheney. However, operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield were a success and brought Powell's name to an international audience.

Powell remained Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the early months of the new Clinton presidency but he found it difficult to work alongside a more liberal administration. He clashed with the new president over the issue of allowing gay people to join the military, and had a public disagreement with Madeleine Albright, then US ambassador to the UN, over military intervention in Bosnia.

Powell firmly believed that only a threat to US interests justified a military response. He left the army in and devoted time to writing his autobiography - it topped the New York Times best-seller list - and engaging in charity work.

Freed from his obligations as a serving officer, he began to involve himself in politics. With admirers in both main parties, he was touted as a vice-presidential nominee for both Democrats and Republicans. He declared himself a Republican in There was talk of him standing against Bill Clinton in the presidential election, but Powell decided he lacked the passion for a political career.

In , George W Bush appointed Powell as secretary of state, the post responsible for US relationships with foreign countries. Powell, sticking to his own doctrine, opposed US involvement in Iraq but, in an about-face, agreed to support Bush.

His reputation as a man of integrity certainly helped persuade the United Nations of the case for war when he appeared before the Security Council in Just 18 months later, with Saddam Hussein toppled, Powell admitted that intelligence suggesting the Iraqi dictator had possessed "weapons of mass destruction", was almost certainly wrong.

Shortly after he announced his resignation as secretary of state. Powell was one of the foremost supporters of taking swift military action against al-Qaeda and demanded immediate cooperation from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the U. When the Administration's attention shifted to Iraq and the possibility that Saddam Hussein was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction WMD , Powell pressed to have UN inspectors investigate. In February , Powell presented intelligence to the UN that supported the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and could produce more.

In , some of the intelligence that Powell had brought before the UN in was found to be erroneous. After initially difficult Administration interactions with Russia and China, Powell worked to improve both bilateral relationships. Prominent among these efforts were management of U. In the area of foreign aid, Powell pushed the Administration to increase its commitment to the international fight against AIDS, and oversaw a doubling of development assistance funding.

He also pressed for international cooperation to halt the nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran, and the Administration achieved an important nonproliferation success when Libya agreed to give up its weapons programs in Powell confronted a variety of international crises as well, including a near war between nuclear powers India and Pakistan in , domestic turmoil in Liberia and Haiti , and the Indian Ocean tsunami in Although President Bush endorsed the plan, Powell was not able to persuade the Administration to make a strong commitment to its implementation.

General Powell was a man of extraordinary accomplishment: a trailblazer, a role model, and an inspiration. And he was a proud son of City College, a person from humble origins who never forgot where he started. The son of Jamaican immigrants, born in Harlem and raised in the South Bronx, he was educated in New York City public schools; and when it came to college, it was CCNY or nowhere, as he often reminded us.

He went on to greatness, but he never left this College behind. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. Under President George W.

Bush, Powell was appointed the 65th Secretary of State and was unanimously confirmed by the U. Powell Center for Leadership and Service in