Putin, political gridlock and Ronald Reagan’s squirrels: Colin Powell shares musings, anecdotes at Whitworth forum

Colin Powell remembers the last day he served as secretary of state: Jan. 26, 2005.

He got the news that he was being replaced by Condoleezza Rice while he was on a plane, flying through a storm. When he landed, his bodyguards got in a different car and left. He was alone.

“A sudden emptiness comes upon you at a time like this,” he said. “What do you do next?”

But Powell, 81, has kept his eye on national politics since then, and what he sees now is lawmakers at an impasse.

“We’re not meeting in the middle anymore,” he said. “At the end of the day, what makes the country work is that we compromise with each other.”

About 2,000 people flocked to the Spokane Convention Center on Friday to listen to Powell tell his story and distill life lessons from his time as the 65th secretary of state under President George W. Bush, as a four-star retired U.S. Army general and as national security adviser under Ronald Reagan.

Whitworth University hosted the event as part of its President’s Leadership Forum, which brings high-profile speakers to Spokane to offer new ideas and perspectives to the community and Whitworth students. Past speakers include author Michael Lewis and Rice, the former secretary of state.

One of the Whitworth students in the crowd, Chase Weholt, said Powell’s stories and lessons encapsulated the point of the forum.

“(Of) the three times I’ve been to the leadership forum, Powell has best summarized the mission in that it’s meant to be a discussion of civil discourse and diplomacy.”

Powell spoke on topics such as immigration, education, foreign policy and leadership, and sprinkled in colorful anecdotes that had the audience laughing at times.

Foreign policy

“I know Mr. Putin very well,” Powell said in one of his stories about foreign policy. “He’s quite a character. I’ve negotiated with him. I’ve had some fun with him. I’ve had vodka with him.”

Once, when working for Bush, Powell was tasked with telling Putin that the U.S. would be pulling out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Powell flew to Russia to deliver the message to Putin, who knew it was coming, Powell suspected.

“I think you’re making a stupid move,” an angry Putin told Powell. Powell said he would report Putin’s message just the way he said it. Putin then dropped the angry attitude and said, “ ‘Good. Now we don’t have to talk about this now. Let’s have a drink.’ ”

Putin has “restored a sense of pride” to Russians, he said.

Powell is troubled by the current national discourse on foreign policy. North Korea, China, Russia and Iran are causing Americans concern – but too much, Powell said.

“We’d be better served if we didn’t get so hysterical,” he said.

Although North Korea is developing nuclear weapons, Powell isn’t afraid the country will use them.

“What would they use a nuke for? They would have just committed assisted suicide, because the next day we’ll take Pyongyang off the map.”

Powell sees it as more of a bargaining chip, he said, adding that “it’s the only thing of value they have to trade.” He told the crowd not to expect a quick-fix agreement over nuclear weapons from North Korea, which he called “the best negotiators I’ve ever dealt with.”

Another topic was China and the “trade war.”

“I hope the president can find a way to resolve it,” he said. “China is not threatening us. They’re building roads, trains and shipping routes. That’s what they’re investing in. We have to find a way to deal with China.”

Immigration

Powell’s parents came to the U.S. in banana boats in the 1920s from Jamaica, where there was no economic future, he said.

“As I look at immigration debates, it’s disturbing me greatly,” he said. “We live on immigration. It has made us a great country.”

He said that separating children from parents was a bad idea, and he told immigrants in the crowd: “Don’t buy into anything that suggests you’re not welcome here.”

Leadership

Powell recalls a day when he was the national security adviser for Ronald Reagan and learned a valuable lesson about leadership.

Reagan was sitting near his fireplace while Powell ran through a list of problems and concerns. Reagan seemed to be staring over Powell’s shoulder and not paying attention.

“(Reagan) suddenly jumps out of his chair,” Powell said, to point out the squirrel outside the window gathering nuts from the feeder.

Powell left the room confused, but thinking about the strange occurrence, he came to a realization: “What he was saying was, until you give me a problem, I’m going to watch the squirrels.”

Powell realized that Reagan trusted him to make the decisions and solve the problems himself, he said. And that translated into a leadership lesson: “You create a good team by empowering subordinates.”

Education

Powell’s name marks 11 elementary and middle schools across the country, and his college, City College of New York, has a school dedicated to him, the Colin Powell School for Civic And Global Leadership. Eighty percent of its students were born outside U.S. borders. Powell calls them “Ellis Island kids.”

“We’re teaching them service, how to help others, and leadership,” he said.

Powell talked about his time taking young students to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and showing them a typical day for an ambassador.

“We need to make sure we expose children to new experiences,” he said.

Powell listed the features of a healthy childhood he said everyone deserves: a loving adult, programs to keep them safe, good health, a marketable education and an opportunity to give back.

“I don’t understand why every one of our citizens does not have health care,” he said.

Only about 25 percent of young men can join the armed forces, Powell said, which is a problem.

“We have to do a better job of this,” he said. “The only thing we leave behind is good work, our reputation and our children.”