Remembering Colin Powell

Former secretary of state, Joint Chiefs chairman in his own words

Colin Powell, former U.S. secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was a leader, thinker, innovator and trailblazer during his decades of public service. Following his death on Monday, the Editorial Board offers the follow selections from a few of his speeches in tribute to his wisdom and in his memory.

“[I]t’s all about people, how you interact with people. The single word that captures what leadership is really all about and how you know when you have it and when you don’t have it is the word ‘trust.’ Leaders have to be trusted by their followers. Leaders also have to be good followers. If a leader is a good follower, then the person above you, your leader, has confidence and trust in you.”

— Department of State Leadership Lecture, Dean Acheson Auditorium, Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003.

“Above all, never lose faith in America. Its faults are yours to fix, not to curse. America is a family: There may be differences and disputes within the family, but we must not allow the family to be broken into warring factions. From the diversity of our people, let us draw strength and not seek weakness. Believe in America with all your heart and soul, with all of your mind. Remember, that it remains the ‘last, best hope of Earth.’ You are its inheritors and its future is today placed in your hands.”

— Commencement Address at Howard University, Washington, D.C., May 14, 1994.

“This nation is here because our founding fathers, with all of their different beliefs, with the arguments they had in that room in summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, as strongly as they felt about everything they knew they had to compromise in order to create a constitution, in order to create the great country that we now enjoy. So as you go through life, listen to the other side, have your eyes and your ears and your heart open to counter views so that we can get back to what makes this country great in a political sense, the ability to compromise with each other and not just freeze ourselves on a spectrum of political desire from the right or from the left.”

— Commencement address at High Point University, High Point, N.C., May 3, 2014.

“If you want young people to become contributing citizens and not convicts, then early in life we must give them the character and the competence they need to succeed in this exciting new world. It begins in the home with caring, loving parents and family members who pass on the virtues of past generations, who live good lives which serve as models for their children. … We are obliged to make sure that every child gets a healthy start in life. With all our wealth and capacity, we just can’t stand by idly. We must make sure that every child has health care. As we are giving these necessities, and others, to our children, let’s ask them to also give back to the community of which they are a part. Early in life help them to learn of the joy that comes from giving to others through community service. Let youngsters be part of the solution.”

— Speech to the Republican National Convention, Philadelphia, July 31, 2000.

“Kindness works. To get things done you have to bring people together, especially in the military where you’re going to be asking them to put their lives on the line. You can be tough and you can be demanding, and you can set high standards, but I’ve also found that if you do these things in a spirit of kindness, and showing the reason why we have to do these things — and kindness in the way that gets their respect and shows that you respect them — you can build a very, very powerful team on a basis of trust.”