An Evening With Colin Powell

Interviewed by Juan Williams

A PBS-TV Special to benefit The HistoryMakers

Saturday, April 29, 2006

An Evening With Colin Powell
This hour-long, one-on-one interview program provides a rare and insightful glimpse at the life and career of General Colin Powell. Taped live in Washington, D.C. at George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium on Saturday, April 29, 2006, this program is the tenth in The HistoryMakers’ An Evening with. . . series. Political commentator and author, Juan Williams, interviewed General Powell, and Discover Financial Services LLC served as title sponsor for the event.  Other sponsors included News Corporation, American Airlines, Verizon and Hilton Hotels Corporation. 

Powell’s son, Michael Powell, started the evening off by welcoming all those in attendance, and an opening procession was conducted by Howard University’s AFROTC DET 30 and vocalist Everett Greene sang the National Anthem.  Juan Williams was then introduced, and he brought out the nights man of honor, General Colin Powell.  Powell spoke about the history and contributions of African Americans and their involvement in every war in the history of the United States.  He also talked about his family’s Caribbean heritage, his career as a soldier and his appointment as the first African American United States Secretary of State.  It was a night to remember!

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Colin Powell, Julieanna Richardson, Alma Powell	Colin Powell and Juan Williams backstage
Juan Williams and Colin Powell	Juan Williams

Colin Powell

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret) became the 65th Secretary of State on January 20, 2001. While Secretary, Powell led the State Department in major efforts to solve regional and civil conflicts in the Middle East, between Israel and its Arab neighbors, in Sudan, Congo and Liberia, in the Balkans, Cyprus, Haiti, Northern Ireland and elsewhere. Before becoming Secretary of State, Colin Powell served as a key aide to the Secretary of Defense and as National Security Advisor to President Reagan. He also served 35 years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of Four-Star General and serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989—1993). During this time he oversaw 28 crises to include the Panama intervention of 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. General Powell is the recipient of numerous U.S. military awards and decorations including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart. General Powell’s civilian awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President’s Citizens Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal. His many international awards include a French Legion of Honor and an honorary knighthood bestowed by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Colin Powell and his wife, Alma Johnson Powell have three children, Michael, Linda and Annemarie, and three grandchildren.