born April 5, 1937, New York, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. general and statesman.
The son of Jamaican immigrants, he entered the U.S. Army after college and served in the Vietnam War (1962–63, 1968–69). After holding various posts in the Pentagon and elsewhere, he was appointed senior military assistant to the secretary of defense in 1983. In 1987 he joined the staff of the National Security Council; in that same year Pres. Ronald Reagan appointed him assistant to the president for national security affairs. In 1989 Powell was promoted to four-star general and, appointed by Pres. George Bush , became the first African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He helped plan the invasion of Panama (1989) and the military operations of the First Persian Gulf War . Under Pres. George W. Bush he served as secretary of state (2001–05), the first African American to hold that post.