Madeleine Albright Remembers Colin Powell: ‘I Have Lost a Friend’

EXCERPT:

ALBRIGHT: “President Biden, President Obama, President Bush, Secretary Clinton, distinguished leaders and guests, my heart is sad for I have lost a friend. Alma, Michael, Linda, and Annemarie, the remarkable Powell family, I’m grateful to you for inviting me to share my thoughts in this hour of celebration and remembrance. In 1993, when I began serving as America’s ambassador to the U.N., General Colin Powell was already in his final months as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At White House meetings, I came equipped with a yellow pad. He brought a laser pointer and an array of multicolored slides. I wore a pin. He wore a lot of medals. I was a mere mortal female civilian. In the wake of Operation Desert Storm he was the hero of the Western world. On policy, the General and I didn’t always reach the same conclusions, and in fact, he would later recount that one of my comments almost gave him an aneurysm. Although we were the same age, he and I were shaped by different experiences and had different ideas and represented different departments. But over the past quarter century, we also became very close friends, an experience I know that I have in common with many of you.”