To the Editor: Re “Colin L. Powell, 1937-2021: Model Diplomat Haunted by the Iraq War” (obituary, front page, Oct. 19): True, Colin Powell was haunted by the war in Iraq, but for most Americans he rose far above those problematic scenes of his testimony before the United Nations.
He was a man whose name invokes the best of what American leadership has to offer. A man whose success story invokes pride in what an American can achieve, as a Black man, as a military hero, as a passionate believer in truth and justice.
He could have been president. His very stature was presidential. His statesmanship was admired across the aisle and throughout the country and the world.