General Powell

Washington -- Gen. Colin Powell, the nation's top-ranked military officer, retires today in the midst of an orgy of publicity and hero worship unmatched since Dwight D. Eisenhower left the military.The remarkable parallel is that most press coverage speculates about whether General Powell, the son of poor Jamaican immigrants, will be tapped by the Republican Party to run for president, as Eisenhower was.Already we're reading silly opinion polls saying that if the 1996 election were held today, General Powell would defeat Bill Clinton.

Because I am a humor columnist with an abundance of je ne sais quoi, which is French for "that certain something which could well be nothing," I often have the opportunity to hobnob with world opinion leaders. Actually, I had the opportunity to have my photograph taken with one world opinion leader -- Gen. Colin Powell. It was a few months ago at a private dinner before he spoke at the Meyerhoff. Come to think of it, the invitation was not expressly made to me per se -- rather it was to my husband, who has a real job that rarely involves humor.

IN A parting session with reporters, Gen. Colin L. Powell was told he was being compared to Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant, war heroes who won the presidency. How did he see himself?General Powell rolled his eyes with "gimme-a-break" exasperation."Oh, more like General Halftrack," said General Powell, alluding to the bumblehead in the "Beetle Bailey" strip.Despite his evasive humor, Colin Powell's political future is no joke in Washington back rooms.A black, immensely popular ex-general running as a Republican against Bill Clinton in 1996?

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Rather than a smoking gun, it was all just smoke and mirrors, Iraqi officials charged yesterday in their first rebuttal here to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's indictment of Saddam Hussein at the United Nations Security Council. Going on the offensive against Powell's allegation of a concerted effort by Iraq to deceive U.N. weapons inspectors and conceal nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs, Gen. Amer al-Saadi heaped scorn on the Security Council speech, portraying it as a mishmash of new and old allegations that were either unverifiable or had been answered by Iraq.

WASHINGTON -- Whether he is embarking on a campaign tryout or merely a campaign to sell a lot of books, Colin L. Powell is about to become the man of the moment.Four years after the Persian Gulf war turned the charismatic, rock-ribbed army general into a four-star celebrity, General Powell this week launches his autobiography, "My American Journey," with extraordinary, what some have called unparalleled, fanfare. A parade of magazine covers, interviews with everyone from Barbara Walters to Jay Leno and a 25-city book tour will take him through Wal-Marts and Sam's Clubs as well as bookstores all across the country.

McLEAN, Va. -- The fans lined up for blocks, a few having spent the night outside on air mattresses as if queuing up to buy tickets for a rock concert.They came by the hundreds yesterday morning to buy a book from Gen. Colin L. Powell as he kicked off his 25-city blitz -- and to witness what many believed was the start of a presidential campaign.On the first stop of a four-week book tour that will take him from McLean, where he lives, to California and back, the Persian Gulf war hero was met with wild applause and encouragement to enter the race.

For the first time ever, a black American is being sized up by the nation as a potential president. That Colin Powell has brought this about is, alone, reason for the nation saying "thank you" to him.He has helped us grow up. He has done so by the simple device of succeeding brilliantly in the American institution that has done the most to provide equal opportunities to all. He was never a "black soldier" and he is not likely to be a "black candidate" if...

WASHINGTON -- Part of Colin Powell's apparent appeal and freshness in national politics is that he has not been packaged by a platoon of media consultants and has not visibly tailored his "message" for advisers with ambitions of their own.But he is not working alone.Kenneth M. Duberstein is hardly a household name in America. But he has the attention of General Powell, guides him through intramural Republican politics and has helped him play the press like a 50-piece U.S. Army brass band.

Within the next two weeks Time magazine will publish lengthy excerpts from Colin Powell's memoirs, Barbara Walters will interview him for a prime time television show, and the general will begin a nationwide promotional tour at a book store in Virginia.That tour is going to be treated by most who follow it closely -- journalists, voters, candidates for president -- as the equivalent of the presidential campaign trail. Technically and legally it won't be. He may not have made up his mind yet if he wants to run. Even if he has, his publisher wouldn't let him admit it, thus limiting his ability to get free broadcast appearances (since other candidates might then demand the same thing)

WASHINGTON -- Organizers of a Draft Powell committee that seeks to win the Republican presidential nomination for Gen. Colin Powell said yesterday that they had formally filed with the ,, Federal Election Commission.The committee, Citizens for Colin Powell, has not been authorized by General Powell, but its filing with the election commission would let it be converted into an official campaign committee should the general announce his candidacy."The extent of the outpouring of support for Colin Powell for president . . . prompts our filing at this time," said Charles J. Kelly Jr., a retired investment banker who heads the group.

Only a week left and you still haven't found just the right gif for your right-wing Republican brother-in-law? May I suggest "My American Journey" (Random House. 643 pages. $25.95) by Colin Powell? Right-wing Republicans were scared silly of General Powell a few weeks ago, when it appeared he might try to win the party's presidential nomination. Polls showed him beating any opponent, including front-runner Sen. Bob Dole.I believe if right-wingers actually read "My American Journey" they would warm up to Colin Powell.

WASHINGTON -- Part of Colin Powell's apparent appeal and freshness in national politics is that he has not been packaged by a platoon of media consultants and has not visibly tailored his "message" for advisers with ambitions of their own.But he is not working alone.Kenneth M. Duberstein is hardly a household name in America. But he has the attention of General Powell, guides him through intramural Republican politics and has helped him play the press like a 50-piece U.S. Army brass band.

For the first time ever, a black American is being sized up by the nation as a potential president. That Colin Powell has brought this about is, alone, reason for the nation saying "thank you" to him.He has helped us grow up. He has done so by the simple device of succeeding brilliantly in the American institution that has done the most to provide equal opportunities to all. He was never a "black soldier" and he is not likely to be a "black candidate" if...

McLEAN, Va. -- The fans lined up for blocks, a few having spent the night outside on air mattresses as if queuing up to buy tickets for a rock concert.They came by the hundreds yesterday morning to buy a book from Gen. Colin L. Powell as he kicked off his 25-city blitz -- and to witness what many believed was the start of a presidential campaign.On the first stop of a four-week book tour that will take him from McLean, where he lives, to California and back, the Persian Gulf war hero was met with wild applause and encouragement to enter the race.

WASHINGTON -- Whether he is embarking on a campaign tryout or merely a campaign to sell a lot of books, Colin L. Powell is about to become the man of the moment.Four years after the Persian Gulf war turned the charismatic, rock-ribbed army general into a four-star celebrity, General Powell this week launches his autobiography, "My American Journey," with extraordinary, what some have called unparalleled, fanfare. A parade of magazine covers, interviews with everyone from Barbara Walters to Jay Leno and a 25-city book tour will take him through Wal-Marts and Sam's Clubs as well as bookstores all across the country.

HAVING offered you Civil War history rewritten by Winston Churchill (Aug. 28) and by McDonogh School students (Aug. 31), here, as promised, is the classic of the genre.Myron Beckenstein and Neil Grauer reminded me of it. The former lent me a copy to quote from. Thanks, Myron. I needed that. This would lose something in translation if I quoted from memory.The piece was written by James Thurber. Its title was "If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox." Gen. U. S. Grant, with jacket unbuttoned and one boot off, greets Gen. Robert E. Lee with, "I know who you are. You're Robert Browning the poet."

HAVING offered you Civil War history rewritten by Winston Churchill (Aug. 28) and by McDonogh School students (Aug. 31), here, as promised, is the classic of the genre.Myron Beckenstein and Neil Grauer reminded me of it. The former lent me a copy to quote from. Thanks, Myron. I needed that. This would lose something in translation if I quoted from memory.The piece was written by James Thurber. Its title was "If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox." Gen. U. S. Grant, with jacket unbuttoned and one boot off, greets Gen. Robert E. Lee with, "I know who you are. You're Robert Browning the poet."

IS COLIN POWELL going to run for president? Steve Ambrose hopes so. He has left his jobs as professor of history at the University of New Orleans and director of the Eisenhower Center to work to get General Powell in the race.Ambrose is an old Hopkins and Evening Sun hand who is generally recognized as the academic expert on Dwight Eisenhower. (He's written biographies of him and Richard Nixon.) Last week, on the day before Powell told an audience he was "preserving my [political] options," Ambrose said in a telephone interview:"After Desert Storm I wrote a piece comparing Colin Powell to Ike for the New York Times op-ed page.

Within the next two weeks Time magazine will publish lengthy excerpts from Colin Powell's memoirs, Barbara Walters will interview him for a prime time television show, and the general will begin a nationwide promotional tour at a book store in Virginia.That tour is going to be treated by most who follow it closely -- journalists, voters, candidates for president -- as the equivalent of the presidential campaign trail. Technically and legally it won't be. He may not have made up his mind yet if he wants to run. Even if he has, his publisher wouldn't let him admit it, thus limiting his ability to get free broadcast appearances (since other candidates might then demand the same thing)

WASHINGTON -- Organizers of a Draft Powell committee that seeks to win the Republican presidential nomination for Gen. Colin Powell said yesterday that they had formally filed with the ,, Federal Election Commission.The committee, Citizens for Colin Powell, has not been authorized by General Powell, but its filing with the election commission would let it be converted into an official campaign committee should the general announce his candidacy."The extent of the outpouring of support for Colin Powell for president . . . prompts our filing at this time," said Charles J. Kelly Jr., a retired investment banker who heads the group.