Military Triumph, Racial Transcendence, and Colin Powell

Abstract

A black kid of no early promise, Colin Powell became the youngest general in the U.S. Army, and then in short order national security advisor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the nation's secretary of state. What does this extraordinary story reveal about contemporary American political life? Analyzing surveys supplied by the National Election Study and the National Black Election Study, we first establish that Powell's rapid rise to prominence is matched by his remarkable popularity among the American public. Next, we develop and test two possible explanations for Powell's popularity. One supposes that the secret to Powell's high standing with the public lies in his association with success on the battlefield: Powell as the victorious general. The other explanation invokes racial progress, the disappearance of racism among whites, and the decline of identity politics among blacks: Powell as racially transcendent. In the final section of the article, informed by our results, we offer some speculations about American politics today-about the political implications of military accomplishment and about the multiplicity of conditions that are required for Americans to see through race.