January 24, 2025 • 19 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, General Colin Powell was the youngest and the nation's first black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest position in the US Military. He was also the first black man appointed Secretary of State, the world's leading diplomat. To friends and family, he was so much more. Leslie Lautenslager, the author of My Time with General Colin Powell: Stories of Kindness, Diplomacy, and Protocol, shares his remarkable story.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. General Colin Powell
was the youngest and the nation's first black chairman the
Joint chiefs of Staff, the highest position in the US military.
He was also the first black man appointed Secretary of State,
the world's leading diplomat. The world saw him as a
(00:30):
military leader, diplomat, senior statesman, and an advocate for young people.
But to friends and family, he was so much more.
We have one of those friends here to share some
of the stories about the General. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm Leslie Laudensliker, and I have recently written a book
called My Time with General Colin Powell, Stories of Kindness,
Diplomacy and Protocol, and in essence, it's a memoir of
my twenty five over twenty five years serving beside him,
mostly on the international speaking circuit, but also with him
(01:07):
at the State Department. And in July of twenty sixteen,
the pals were in the Hamptons on vacation and I
was in Atlanta, Georgia for my annual conference. On this
particular day, we were gathered for a plenary session focused
on state funerals. We were at Ebenezer Baptist Church and
(01:32):
the planary was taking place in the fellowship haul while
I was doing something that I preach on for everybody else,
do not look at your cell phone when you are
in an event, at a show, whatever, do not look
at your cell phone. However, I was in the back
of the room and General Powell was texting me naughty
(01:54):
as I was. I looked at it and reminded him
where I was. He knewhere I was, you know, at
the conference, but he at that moment did not realize
I was in Fellowship Paul of Ebenezer Baptist Church, which,
to put in a context, that, of course, is where
Martin Luther King was a co pastor, and also that
was where his funeral had taken place, and for us
to be having a state funeral plenary session there, it
(02:16):
was very specific and very very meaningful. So I reminded
the General, you know, basically, don't bother me. Quit texting me.
I'm here for this plenary session. And a moment went
by and he texted back and he said little Bird,
one of his nicknames for me, Little Bird, you do
realize you'll be.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Doing that for me one day, don't you? And I froze.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I felt the blood drained from my face. I broke
out in a cold sweat. I teared up, of course,
and he then texted right away and he said, you know, let'slie.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
You're not surprised by this, are you?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
And I admitted in a quick text back, and I said, well, okay,
maybe I'm not surprised, but.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Are we talking about this? This is that's something we need
to talk.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
About while He then went on and did its normal
bullet list of no, where you will use Gawler's funeral
home when it happens, which in the end we did.
We will not have the service at Saint John's Episcopal Church,
which was his local church there in McLain, Virginia. We
won't have it there because I realized that's probably too small.
We will not have it at the National Cathedral in Washington.
(03:26):
It is too big and too important. And I will
be buried, of course at early to National Cemetery, but
not near the eternal flame, not near the tomb of
the ndwned soldier. I want to be buried down with
the troops.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
In the end, we did use Gaoler's funeral home. We
negated his thought not to have it at the National Cathedral.
In the end that was the appropriate place, and he
is in fact buried down with the troops. And if
if you look at his tombstone, it is a very
basic tombstone. He had many very important titles that could
(04:07):
have been on the tombstone, but it's not. It is
the simple soldier. So that was a sobering moment in
twenty sixteen to be faced with this, and he did
say at the time, texted the time, Okay, we'll talk
about this. I realized we'll have to talk about right now,
but we'll talk about We'll have an ongoing conversation about it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
We never talked about it again.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So my over a quarter century with General Palm started
out very serendipitously. As I said, I had had a
career in protocol during the Reagan administration. So it was
soon after I graduated from college I fell into a
job at the State Department with Lukie Roosevelt as the
chief of Protocol. So at the end of the Reagan administration,
(04:53):
my job ended when his administration ended, but I had
gone on to do other things in protocol. I worked
with the Battle Normany Foundation, and then in April of
nineteen ninety sixth out of the Blue. I get a
phone call from a friend of mine saying, there's this
job with my name on it with the Washington speakers
(05:13):
barreu with somebody to take care of in essence the
Golden Goose, one of the world's most popular speakers on
the international speaking.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Circuit, I e. General Colin Powell.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And sure enough I was offered with the job. And
the world. You know, if this were on camera, I
would demonstrate by saying, the world knew him as a
military leader, and I would put my hand to my
forehead in a salute, and then I would also say,
the world do him as a diplomat, and I would
(05:44):
put my hand over my heart. That's what the world
knew from the headlines, from the camera, from whatever. But
he was so much more. General Powell had been invited
to present a series of awards and a galla dinner,
a black tied day with the Washington d C. And
it was at the Royal Rake, and it was after
(06:04):
we were at State Department, so he's back in private life,
and also presenting awards was Tom Sellick. Well John Palin
and I got to the VIP reception early. We worked
the crowd. The VIP reception. As soon as the General
had worked the room, it was time that he could
then when I say, escape, get out of the feeding frenzy,
(06:25):
so to speak, and retire to a private holding room
that had been set up for him. And then we
got word that Tom Selleck had arrived, but tom Selleck
did not having Leslie. Tom Selleck was by himself and
he was in the VIP reception, and Jedda pal realized
that he needed to teae pity on his friend. And
Tom Selligan and General Palell were friends, and so he said, Lesli,
(06:47):
go safetm just just see if he wants to come
out and hang with us in the VIP hold room.
Side note, Jernapale knew that I was a big Magnan
p I fan. I had been in love with magnanm
p I since I was a teenager, so he knew
this was not a hardship for me, but he also
knew it was something that probably would make me pledge.
(07:08):
So I wade through the VIP perception and probably one
hundred people and sure they are Phoebe it's a shark
attack feeding on him. So I tap him on the shoulter,
said mister sell excuse me. My name is Les Luttsager.
I work with General Colin pal and your friend. The
General has has asked me to say, would you like
to join us in the whole room. He of course absolutely,
(07:29):
so he high tails it out of the crowd with
me go into the room. So they're catching up whatever. Well,
then we're joined by the rest of the VIPs that
are at the Hit table. And again this is black tie,
so the gentlemen are in tuxedos, the ladies are in
twinkly sequins and heels. Well, one of the women who's
(07:49):
part of the Hit table comes in and jumps into
Joe Pell's arm, calling Colin, I'm so happy to see you,
and she seeds to tell the rest of the VIP
Hit table people. Well, the story that Colon saved my life.
One day we were seated at the table together at
a dinner at the White House, and I started choking
(08:10):
on a piece of chicken, and the General saved my life.
He did the Heimlic maneuver and sure enough I escaped
death's clutches. Well, Tom Selleck then says, well, you know what,
I live in fear that one day I will be
at a dinner and somebody will choke and will die
because I do not know how to do the he maneuver.
(08:31):
Suddenly I see the twinkle in joa Pal's eyes and
I think, oh, sugar.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I know exactly what's coming next.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
John Health pass Tomslik on the shoulder and said, Tom, tonight,
your lucky night.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
I'm gonna teach you the Heim maneuver.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And he looks across at me with twinkles in his
eyes and yells like, come here.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
And you've been listening to Leslie Luttenslager tell this story
of General Colin Powell. My goodness, the part of him
being buried with the soldiers at Arlington is just well,
it's Colin Powell. Here's what his tombstone says. Colin Luther Powell,
General U. S. Army, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, April fifteenth, nineteen
(09:13):
thirty seven October eighteenth, twenty twenty one. No mention of
his service at the State Department, no mention of his
service as a chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Power was
not really what Colin Powell was after. He wanted to
be buried with his boys, with the soldiers, with the
men and women who serve the country, and that tombstone
(09:34):
says it all. When we come back more of General
Colin Powell's story here on our American stories, and we
(10:09):
continue with our American stories and with Leslie Lautenslager, and
she's the author of my time with General Colin Powell,
stories of kindness, diplomacy and protocol. Let's pick up where
we last left off.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
So I dautifully with beat red face, I have no doubt.
I hoddle over in my little high heels. Jenni pal
grabs Tom and Selk's arms, puts them around my waist,
tells Tom Wi no, no, no, do it a little
tighter now, now you squeeze here, and he goes into
great choreography in making sure that Tom Selleck now has
(10:47):
dutifully been taught the appropriate procedure for saving a live
with the Heimach maneuver on me. My only regret is
that there was no photographer in the room who could
take an official picture of me, as the dummy used
to teach Tom Savick that had look number when we
(11:09):
first went to the State Department. The Secretary of State
of the Units States of America has suddenly burst into
the room and then he says, okay, I on Wednesday,
so maybe this was a Monday.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It's on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It will be my time to host the foresome. And
the foursome was the National Security forsome, which was the
Vice President in this case Vice President Cheney, Sectary Defense Rumsfeld,
and National Security Advisor cindablyse A Rice and Sector of State.
So it's going to be secta. Powell turned to host
(11:42):
this this monthly lunch. So he's telling my my status whouse,
I know where's lovely and they explain, now she's at
this meeting, so what can we do? What can we do?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
And take you notes?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
He says, okay, on Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
For this lunch, I want it.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
To be in one of the diplomatic receiving rooms up stairs.
And for those of you who don't know, the State
Department has the third largest collection of American antiques, next
to Went to Tour and Colonial Williamsburg. Beautiful one of
the time American history is just resplendent in the the
eighth floor dolomatic seaving rooms, and that was where we
(12:18):
did all our entertaining role. For this small lunch, he's.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Gonna have it in one of this room.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
He wanted spotless table claws and napkins.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
He wanted the.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Perfect crystal etched with the Great Seal of the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
He wanted the beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
China with the Great Seal of the United States, the
silver every little beautiful. And then he wanted each plate
to then have the silver domey things, as he told
my staff the closures. Wanted each one to have a
silver dome. Now, my women, my staff, they're taking festive,
fearous notes because he's very, very serious about this, giving
them orders, he said. And then I want at the
(13:00):
white staff, I want them to be in black tie,
and and I want everything choreographs with at exactly the
right moment they reveal at a queue. I want them
to reveal this, you know, take the silver domes off
the plates. And then I want served peanut butter and
jelly sandwich, is a white bread, a bag of chips,
(13:22):
a cookie, and what's that yucky chocolate drink that you know,
yahoo yohoo, whatever that chocolate drink is. And I want
it all in a brown paper bag, and I want
scribbled over the top and crayon rummy Kandy Cheney and
my staff they see, but he was serious and Isaac
(13:47):
the one who was most traumatized. I had a Cligerfer
on my staff, and she's so talented. I think she
was more traumatized than nobody else because the idea of
using a crayon to scribble on a brown paper bag
when she's used to doing dip pens ink. And sure enough,
that's what we did. So so when it comes time
for the legend, these very important officials of the United
(14:08):
States of America, they come in and I've got the
wait staff. We're all dressed, and we're behind each chair,
and I get the wink from the General of the Secretary,
and I cue the others and we grabbed the silver
domes Polara tada, and there's a moment of silence, and
(14:28):
then Cheney looks up and says, good one, Colon, good one.
So that was the General. Yes, make everybody work hard,
but make sure that everybody realizes that there's there's joy
in life. You know, when the General died, he my
father died when I was eight, and which, of course,
(14:49):
you know, nothing is like that. But I had General
pal three times longer than I.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Had my own debt.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But it was it was devastating, and I was out
of tail the time a text from Michael the sun.
So I let I texted Michael right back, and Michael
had kindly said, Lesly, you're not to work the funeral
your family and I, but I have to. This is
what I do. Let me, this is my gift to him.
(15:17):
Then I of course let everybody know about the conversation
he and I had had back in July, and the
text conversation from the basement of the Benezer Baptist Church
about you know, little bird, you'll be doing this for
me one day. So then the agreement was that, okay,
they would let me play in and help organize the funeral,
but the day of the funeral.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I would be seated with the family and in part
of the family. That was fine, but.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We were able to make sure that the funeral had
very special.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Treats in it.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
The military musical group the Persians own they incorporated Dancing
Queen from Abba. Jona pav was a big Abba fan,
so Dancing Queen from Abba was part of the musical tribute.
Also Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. Michael Powell, the oldest
of the three Powell children, had a restakingly beautiful part
(16:11):
of the service.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
My sisters and I were raised under the stars, the
stars of the story General we eulogize today. Dad was
famous for his thirteen rules. But our family life was unregimented,
no mourning, reverly or marching drills. It was a warm
(16:34):
and joyous and loving home, anchored by our strong and
graceful mother, Alma. Our parents taught us right, they taught
us wrong, and they taught us to take responsibility for
our actions and never to blame others. Disappointing them was
(16:56):
the worst punishment you could imagine. The example of Colin
Powell does not call on us to emulate his resume,
which is too formidable for mere mortals. It is to
emulate his character, and his example is a human being.
We can strive to do that. We can choose to
(17:20):
be good.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
One of the General's favorite singers was the Scottish singer Lulu,
who beat famous the song to Sir with Love, which
was written by Don Black and Mark London for the
movie of that same name starring Sidney Poitier. Although the
lyrics of the song are written as if sung by
a young schoolgirl adoring lee to her teacher while I
tear up whenever I think of that last verse. A friend,
(17:45):
you taught right.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
From wrong and weak from strong. That's a lot to learn.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
What can I give you in return? If you wanted
the moon, I would try to make a start, but
I would rather you let me give my heart to
sir with love. If I could have given him the
moon to go with his four stars, I surely would have.
As a military leader and later as a senior statesman
on the world stage, he had our admiration and respect.
(18:11):
As a boss, a dear friend, and a surrogate father.
He had my heart, and I'll forever rejoice in being
able to share the gift of his memory, his lessons,
and his shouad de vivre to serve with love.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Indeed, and you've been listening to Leslie Lautenslager her book
My Time with General Colin Powell, Stories of kindness, diplomacy
and protocol. My goodness, that eulogy delivered by his son Michael,
one of the most powerful eulogies I've ever heard. And
I remember we have done that story of that eulogy,
(18:45):
and I actually commented to the end that there are
two kinds of men in the world, and two kinds
of women, people whose sons and daughters speak about you
that way in people who don't, and we all get
to choose which That is the story of Jenny Roll,
Colin Powell, the story of the Man behind the Stars.
To sir, with love, this is our American Stories.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
M
And we continue with our American stories. General Colin Powell
was the youngest and the nation's first black chairman the
Joint chiefs of Staff, the highest position in the US military.
He was also the first black man appointed Secretary of State,
the world's leading diplomat. The world saw him as a
(00:30):
military leader, diplomat, senior statesman, and an advocate for young people.
But to friends and family, he was so much more.
We have one of those friends here to share some
of the stories about the General. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm Leslie Laudensliker, and I have recently written a book
called My Time with General Colin Powell, Stories of Kindness,
Diplomacy and Protocol, and in essence, it's a memoir of
my twenty five over twenty five years serving beside him,
mostly on the international speaking circuit, but also with him
(01:07):
at the State Department. And in July of twenty sixteen,
the pals were in the Hamptons on vacation and I
was in Atlanta, Georgia for my annual conference. On this
particular day, we were gathered for a plenary session focused
on state funerals. We were at Ebenezer Baptist Church and
(01:32):
the planary was taking place in the fellowship haul while
I was doing something that I preach on for everybody else,
do not look at your cell phone when you are
in an event, at a show, whatever, do not look
at your cell phone. However, I was in the back
of the room and General Powell was texting me naughty
(01:54):
as I was. I looked at it and reminded him
where I was. He knewhere I was, you know, at
the conference, but he at that moment did not realize
I was in Fellowship Paul of Ebenezer Baptist Church, which,
to put in a context, that, of course, is where
Martin Luther King was a co pastor, and also that
was where his funeral had taken place, and for us
to be having a state funeral plenary session there, it
(02:16):
was very specific and very very meaningful. So I reminded
the General, you know, basically, don't bother me. Quit texting me.
I'm here for this plenary session. And a moment went
by and he texted back and he said little Bird,
one of his nicknames for me, Little Bird, you do
realize you'll be.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Doing that for me one day, don't you? And I froze.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I felt the blood drained from my face. I broke
out in a cold sweat. I teared up, of course,
and he then texted right away and he said, you know, let'slie.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
You're not surprised by this, are you?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
And I admitted in a quick text back, and I said, well, okay,
maybe I'm not surprised, but.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Are we talking about this? This is that's something we need
to talk.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
About while He then went on and did its normal
bullet list of no, where you will use Gawler's funeral
home when it happens, which in the end we did.
We will not have the service at Saint John's Episcopal Church,
which was his local church there in McLain, Virginia. We
won't have it there because I realized that's probably too small.
We will not have it at the National Cathedral in Washington.
(03:26):
It is too big and too important. And I will
be buried, of course at early to National Cemetery, but
not near the eternal flame, not near the tomb of
the ndwned soldier. I want to be buried down with
the troops.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
In the end, we did use Gaoler's funeral home. We
negated his thought not to have it at the National Cathedral.
In the end that was the appropriate place, and he
is in fact buried down with the troops. And if
if you look at his tombstone, it is a very
basic tombstone. He had many very important titles that could
(04:07):
have been on the tombstone, but it's not. It is
the simple soldier. So that was a sobering moment in
twenty sixteen to be faced with this, and he did
say at the time, texted the time, Okay, we'll talk
about this. I realized we'll have to talk about right now,
but we'll talk about We'll have an ongoing conversation about it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
We never talked about it again.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So my over a quarter century with General Palm started
out very serendipitously. As I said, I had had a
career in protocol during the Reagan administration. So it was
soon after I graduated from college I fell into a
job at the State Department with Lukie Roosevelt as the
chief of Protocol. So at the end of the Reagan administration,
(04:53):
my job ended when his administration ended, but I had
gone on to do other things in protocol. I worked
with the Battle Normany Foundation, and then in April of
nineteen ninety sixth out of the Blue. I get a
phone call from a friend of mine saying, there's this
job with my name on it with the Washington speakers
(05:13):
barreu with somebody to take care of in essence the
Golden Goose, one of the world's most popular speakers on
the international speaking.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Circuit, I e. General Colin Powell.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And sure enough I was offered with the job. And
the world. You know, if this were on camera, I
would demonstrate by saying, the world knew him as a
military leader, and I would put my hand to my
forehead in a salute, and then I would also say,
the world do him as a diplomat, and I would
(05:44):
put my hand over my heart. That's what the world
knew from the headlines, from the camera, from whatever. But
he was so much more. General Powell had been invited
to present a series of awards and a galla dinner,
a black tied day with the Washington d C. And
it was at the Royal Rake, and it was after
(06:04):
we were at State Department, so he's back in private life,
and also presenting awards was Tom Sellick. Well John Palin
and I got to the VIP reception early. We worked
the crowd. The VIP reception. As soon as the General
had worked the room, it was time that he could
then when I say, escape, get out of the feeding frenzy,
(06:25):
so to speak, and retire to a private holding room
that had been set up for him. And then we
got word that Tom Selleck had arrived, but tom Selleck
did not having Leslie. Tom Selleck was by himself and
he was in the VIP reception, and Jedda pal realized
that he needed to teae pity on his friend. And
Tom Selligan and General Palell were friends, and so he said, Lesli,
(06:47):
go safetm just just see if he wants to come
out and hang with us in the VIP hold room.
Side note, Jernapale knew that I was a big Magnan
p I fan. I had been in love with magnanm
p I since I was a teenager, so he knew
this was not a hardship for me, but he also
knew it was something that probably would make me pledge.
(07:08):
So I wade through the VIP perception and probably one
hundred people and sure they are Phoebe it's a shark
attack feeding on him. So I tap him on the shoulter,
said mister sell excuse me. My name is Les Luttsager.
I work with General Colin pal and your friend. The
General has has asked me to say, would you like
to join us in the whole room. He of course absolutely,
(07:29):
so he high tails it out of the crowd with
me go into the room. So they're catching up whatever. Well,
then we're joined by the rest of the VIPs that
are at the Hit table. And again this is black tie,
so the gentlemen are in tuxedos, the ladies are in
twinkly sequins and heels. Well, one of the women who's
(07:49):
part of the Hit table comes in and jumps into
Joe Pell's arm, calling Colin, I'm so happy to see you,
and she seeds to tell the rest of the VIP
Hit table people. Well, the story that Colon saved my life.
One day we were seated at the table together at
a dinner at the White House, and I started choking
(08:10):
on a piece of chicken, and the General saved my life.
He did the Heimlic maneuver and sure enough I escaped
death's clutches. Well, Tom Selleck then says, well, you know what,
I live in fear that one day I will be
at a dinner and somebody will choke and will die
because I do not know how to do the he maneuver.
(08:31):
Suddenly I see the twinkle in joa Pal's eyes and
I think, oh, sugar.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I know exactly what's coming next.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
John Health pass Tomslik on the shoulder and said, Tom, tonight,
your lucky night.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
I'm gonna teach you the Heim maneuver.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And he looks across at me with twinkles in his
eyes and yells like, come here.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
And you've been listening to Leslie Luttenslager tell this story
of General Colin Powell. My goodness, the part of him
being buried with the soldiers at Arlington is just well,
it's Colin Powell. Here's what his tombstone says. Colin Luther Powell,
General U. S. Army, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, April fifteenth, nineteen
(09:13):
thirty seven October eighteenth, twenty twenty one. No mention of
his service at the State Department, no mention of his
service as a chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Power was
not really what Colin Powell was after. He wanted to
be buried with his boys, with the soldiers, with the
men and women who serve the country, and that tombstone
(09:34):
says it all. When we come back more of General
Colin Powell's story here on our American stories, and we
(10:09):
continue with our American stories and with Leslie Lautenslager, and
she's the author of my time with General Colin Powell,
stories of kindness, diplomacy and protocol. Let's pick up where
we last left off.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
So I dautifully with beat red face, I have no doubt.
I hoddle over in my little high heels. Jenni pal
grabs Tom and Selk's arms, puts them around my waist,
tells Tom Wi no, no, no, do it a little
tighter now, now you squeeze here, and he goes into
great choreography in making sure that Tom Selleck now has
(10:47):
dutifully been taught the appropriate procedure for saving a live
with the Heimach maneuver on me. My only regret is
that there was no photographer in the room who could
take an official picture of me, as the dummy used
to teach Tom Savick that had look number when we
(11:09):
first went to the State Department. The Secretary of State
of the Units States of America has suddenly burst into
the room and then he says, okay, I on Wednesday,
so maybe this was a Monday.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It's on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It will be my time to host the foresome. And
the foursome was the National Security forsome, which was the
Vice President in this case Vice President Cheney, Sectary Defense Rumsfeld,
and National Security Advisor cindablyse A Rice and Sector of State.
So it's going to be secta. Powell turned to host
(11:42):
this this monthly lunch. So he's telling my my status whouse,
I know where's lovely and they explain, now she's at
this meeting, so what can we do? What can we do?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
And take you notes?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
He says, okay, on Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
For this lunch, I want it.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
To be in one of the diplomatic receiving rooms up stairs.
And for those of you who don't know, the State
Department has the third largest collection of American antiques, next
to Went to Tour and Colonial Williamsburg. Beautiful one of
the time American history is just resplendent in the the
eighth floor dolomatic seaving rooms, and that was where we
(12:18):
did all our entertaining role. For this small lunch, he's.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Gonna have it in one of this room.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
He wanted spotless table claws and napkins.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
He wanted the.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Perfect crystal etched with the Great Seal of the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
He wanted the beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
China with the Great Seal of the United States, the
silver every little beautiful. And then he wanted each plate
to then have the silver domey things, as he told
my staff the closures. Wanted each one to have a
silver dome. Now, my women, my staff, they're taking festive,
fearous notes because he's very, very serious about this, giving
them orders, he said. And then I want at the
(13:00):
white staff, I want them to be in black tie,
and and I want everything choreographs with at exactly the
right moment they reveal at a queue. I want them
to reveal this, you know, take the silver domes off
the plates. And then I want served peanut butter and
jelly sandwich, is a white bread, a bag of chips,
(13:22):
a cookie, and what's that yucky chocolate drink that you know,
yahoo yohoo, whatever that chocolate drink is. And I want
it all in a brown paper bag, and I want
scribbled over the top and crayon rummy Kandy Cheney and
my staff they see, but he was serious and Isaac
(13:47):
the one who was most traumatized. I had a Cligerfer
on my staff, and she's so talented. I think she
was more traumatized than nobody else because the idea of
using a crayon to scribble on a brown paper bag
when she's used to doing dip pens ink. And sure enough,
that's what we did. So so when it comes time
for the legend, these very important officials of the United
(14:08):
States of America, they come in and I've got the
wait staff. We're all dressed, and we're behind each chair,
and I get the wink from the General of the Secretary,
and I cue the others and we grabbed the silver
domes Polara tada, and there's a moment of silence, and
(14:28):
then Cheney looks up and says, good one, Colon, good one.
So that was the General. Yes, make everybody work hard,
but make sure that everybody realizes that there's there's joy
in life. You know, when the General died, he my
father died when I was eight, and which, of course,
(14:49):
you know, nothing is like that. But I had General
pal three times longer than I.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Had my own debt.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But it was it was devastating, and I was out
of tail the time a text from Michael the sun.
So I let I texted Michael right back, and Michael
had kindly said, Lesly, you're not to work the funeral
your family and I, but I have to. This is
what I do. Let me, this is my gift to him.
(15:17):
Then I of course let everybody know about the conversation
he and I had had back in July, and the
text conversation from the basement of the Benezer Baptist Church
about you know, little bird, you'll be doing this for
me one day. So then the agreement was that, okay,
they would let me play in and help organize the funeral,
but the day of the funeral.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I would be seated with the family and in part
of the family. That was fine, but.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We were able to make sure that the funeral had
very special.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Treats in it.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
The military musical group the Persians own they incorporated Dancing
Queen from Abba. Jona pav was a big Abba fan,
so Dancing Queen from Abba was part of the musical tribute.
Also Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. Michael Powell, the oldest
of the three Powell children, had a restakingly beautiful part
(16:11):
of the service.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
My sisters and I were raised under the stars, the
stars of the story General we eulogize today. Dad was
famous for his thirteen rules. But our family life was unregimented,
no mourning, reverly or marching drills. It was a warm
(16:34):
and joyous and loving home, anchored by our strong and
graceful mother, Alma. Our parents taught us right, they taught
us wrong, and they taught us to take responsibility for
our actions and never to blame others. Disappointing them was
(16:56):
the worst punishment you could imagine. The example of Colin
Powell does not call on us to emulate his resume,
which is too formidable for mere mortals. It is to
emulate his character, and his example is a human being.
We can strive to do that. We can choose to
(17:20):
be good.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
One of the General's favorite singers was the Scottish singer Lulu,
who beat famous the song to Sir with Love, which
was written by Don Black and Mark London for the
movie of that same name starring Sidney Poitier. Although the
lyrics of the song are written as if sung by
a young schoolgirl adoring lee to her teacher while I
tear up whenever I think of that last verse. A friend,
(17:45):
you taught right.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
From wrong and weak from strong. That's a lot to learn.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
What can I give you in return? If you wanted
the moon, I would try to make a start, but
I would rather you let me give my heart to
sir with love. If I could have given him the
moon to go with his four stars, I surely would have.
As a military leader and later as a senior statesman
on the world stage, he had our admiration and respect.
(18:11):
As a boss, a dear friend, and a surrogate father.
He had my heart, and I'll forever rejoice in being
able to share the gift of his memory, his lessons,
and his shouad de vivre to serve with love.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Indeed, and you've been listening to Leslie Lautenslager her book
My Time with General Colin Powell, Stories of kindness, diplomacy
and protocol. My goodness, that eulogy delivered by his son Michael,
one of the most powerful eulogies I've ever heard. And
I remember we have done that story of that eulogy,
(18:45):
and I actually commented to the end that there are
two kinds of men in the world, and two kinds
of women, people whose sons and daughters speak about you
that way in people who don't, and we all get
to choose which That is the story of Jenny Roll,
Colin Powell, the story of the Man behind the Stars.
To sir, with love, this is our American Stories.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
M
Host
Lee Habeeb
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