comment or quote.
Everybody, it seemed, respected Colin Powell. He would serve three other
presidents—George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, breaking
barriers as the first African American in some of the most influential roles in the
U.S. government.
When I visited his office all these years later, Powell’s roles in government
service long finished, I was struck by its modesty. The picture windows looked
out on the GW Parkway, not on the grand avenues or monuments of Washington
that so many crave in order to assert their place in history. Inside, there was no
wall of fame heavy with pictures of Powell in uniform or alongside world
leaders, no reminders of famous battles or personal glory that are so common in
the offices of “formers” across this power town. The most prominent object was
parked next to Powell’s desk: a bright red Radio Flyer wagon, the symbol of
America’s Promise, the youth organization Powell founded nearly twenty years
before.
Colin Powell was a key player in America’s two wars against Iraq. In the
first, he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the principal military adviser
to President George H. W. Bush. In the second, he was secretary of state, the top
diplomat in the cabinet serving President George W. Bush. Powell was not the
principal architect or the leading voice in either war—there were many other
forces and personalities at work in both—but he played significant roles. The
questions he asked—and did not ask—stand as examples of how strategic
questioning can shape decision-making at a time of crisis.
Powell explained that his approach to strategic questioning was honed
through his military training. During his student days in the Reserve Officers’
Training Corps (ROTC) he learned to start with a rapid and accurate “estimate of
the situation,” so he would know what he was up against. Suppose there’s a hill
to be taken, Powell said, the first thing the young infantry officer or the old corps
commander needs to do is ask:
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