Colin Powell (1937- ) was sworn in as the Secretary of the State on January 20, 2001, becoming the first African-American to hold this position. The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell was the first African-American and the youngest person to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993), making him the highest-ranking black officer in U.S. history.

Powell served two tours in Vietnam in the 1960s. He worked with the deputy secretary of defense in the late 1970s and became senior military assistant to the secretary of defense in 1983. After commanding the V Corps in Frankfurt, Germany, Powell was named President Reagan's assistant for national security affairs in 1987.
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