Timeline for Colin Powell

Colin Powell was one of the prominent black political figures of the US. He was the General of the US army. He was the first black person to hold the position of US Secretary of State.

Timeline:

1937: He was born in New York City on April 5. His parents had emigrated from Jamaica to the US. He was raised in the South Bronx. He attended Morris High School.
1954: He graduated from Morris high School.
1958: He graduated from City College of New York with a bachelor’s degree in geology. He was commissioned as Army Second Lieutenant.
1962: He married Alma Johnson. He was dispatched to South Vietnam as a military advisor.
1963: He was wounded in Vietnam by a booby trap. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. His son Michael was born.
1964: He was enrolled in Command and General Staff College.
1965: His daughter Linda was born.
1968-1970: He returned to Vietnam. He was executive officer and later the assistant chief of staff for operations for the Americal Division with the rank of Major. He was injured in a Helicopter crash. He was awarded the Soldier’s Medal.
1970: He became Lieutenant Colonel.
1971: He was awarded an MBA from George Washington University. His second daughter Annemarie was born.
1976: He was promoted to Colonel.
1979: He was promoted to Brigadier General.
1983: He was promoted to Major General. He became senior military assistant to the secretary of defense.
1986: He served as commander of the Fifth Corps in Frankfurt, Germany. He was promoted to Lieutenant General.
1987: He became Ronald Reagan’s National Security Advisor.
1989: He became the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position.
1991: He oversaw Operation Desert Storm in which the Iraqi Army was removed from Kuwait.
1994: He joined former President Carter and Senator Sam Nunn in a peace expedition to Haiti.
1995: He registered as a Republican.
1996: He gave a speech to the Republican National Convention.
1997: He founded America’s Promise an organization whose goal was to help children from all socioeconomic sectors.
2000: He campaigned for Texan Governor George W Bush in the Presidential election.
2001: He was sworn in as the 65th US Secretary of State. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 he rallied America’s allies for military action in Afghanistan.
2002: He was awarded the Liberty Medal.
2003: He addressed a plenary session of the United Nations Security Council to argue for military action in Iraq. He underwent surgery for prostate cancer,
2004: He declared that Iraq might not have weapons of mass destruction before the war. He called the killings in Sudan’s Darfur region as genocide. During a visit to China he said that Taiwan was not an independent country and would have to ultimately reunite with China. He resigned on Nov 12 as US Secretary of State.
2005: He criticized the handling of Hurricane Katrina.
2006: He participated in a meeting of former Secretaries of State and Defense to discuss foreign policy with the Bush administration.
2007: He declared that he attempted to persuade George W Bush not to invade Iraq.
2008: His name was mentioned as a possible running mate of Republican Presidential nominee John McCain.