NATION : 1st Black to Chair Chiefs of Staff
President Bush, passing over several more senior officers, today chose Army Gen. Colin Powell to be the first black chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Colin Powell has had a truly distinguished military career, and he’s a complete soldier,” Bush said in announcing his selection of Powell, who served as former President Ronald Reagan’s sixth and last national security adviser.
Powell, 52, a four-star general who is believed certain to win confirmation from the Senate, would replace Navy Adm. William Crowe in the country’s top military job on Oct. 1.
In choosing him for the post, Bush reached down the chain of command, bypassing such other officers as Army Gen. John Galvin, commander of NATO forces, and Air Force Gen. Robert Herres, the deputy chairman of the joint chiefs.
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