Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989-93 and, as such, responsible for the overall administration of the Allied forces in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War 1991. A Vietnam War veteran, he first worked in government 1972 and was national security adviser 1987-89. Following intense media speculation, in Nov 1995 Powell announced that he would not seek the Republican party's presidential nomination in 1996, citing family reasons. Powell was born in New York, the son of Jamaican immigrants; he joined the army in the 1950s, was sent to Vietnam 1962 and volunteered to return 1968. He worked for Caspar Weinberger and Frank Carlucci at the Office of Management and Budget 1972, before being posted to Korea 1973. He returned to Washington as assistant to Carlucci at the Defense Department 1981-83 and as adviser to Weinberger 1983-86 and was promoted to general. After a year in West Germany he was recalled to Washington following the Irangate scandal, first as assistant to Carlucci and then replacing him as national security adviser. In 1989 he was made a four-star general and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a position from which he retired 1993.
