A Time to Serve

So I've becoming to these boards for about a month now. And over the many timelines I've scanned through I've never found one about the subject I'm considering undertaking.

For sometime I've been interested in an alternate history where Colin Powell becomes President, but I've never found one that's tackled the subject. So I'm gonna give it a try myself.

The POD is set in 1993, but the story starts sometime after the Powell Presidency with various political figures looking back.


A Time to Serve
By Dark Knight

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“Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause -- honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.”

- Abraham Lincoln



"I tell people that I'm not a professional politician. I was truly a soldier."
- Former President Colin Powell (R-NY), The Challenge of a Lifetime.



“It’s almost weird thinking about those days. You know I used to be a Democrat back then, but with that first campaign anything was possible, the Pres-I’m mean General at the time made me believe that we could overcome the partisan divide and reset our politics for the future. Now, he and I didn’t always agree on the issues, especially healthcare back in 03, but our disagreements were always respectful. And thinking about it now from where I was back then and where I am now, it’s amazing. To be clear if I hadn’t joined the campaign back in 96 I’m not sure where I’d be today.”
- Governor Barack H. Obama (R-Ill) in an interview with Newsweek, February 2012.



“It’s always encouraging to me think about those years, and that first campaign when everything seemed possible. What’s funny is I remember the first big hurdle we had to get through was convincing mom. My mother by far was the key to getting the whole thing going and once we had her the “hard” part was over, or so we thought.”
- Congressman Michael Powell (R-NY), in his new book, My Father and the Presidency.


“Well, we saw President Powell as kind of a sign of things to come. Or at least we took it as one. Olympia, Rudy, John and a few others including myself were definitely not going to let this moment pass. For years conservatives had been running this party, well we were on the rise again thanks to the President and we weren’t going to blow it”
– Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) in an interview with Newsweek, February 2012



“There is no question that the Powell Presidency was a set back to our cause. His social liberalism was affront to everything we believed in. Granted some of his choices for the court weren’t all bad, but his opposition to the life amendment was definitely a problem. And the growing strength of the GOP’s "moderate" wing, while not a huge issue during his Administration, would become a problem after he left office. This was definitely the case when McCain started leading the charge against us. “The maverick”, if weren’t for Powell, McCain's strength in the party today would be non-existent.”
- Pat Robertson, interview with Newsweek, February 2012


“In order to continue the fight started by our last Great Republican President Colin Powell, I Rudolph W. Giuliani, declare my candidacy for President of the United States of America!”
- Senator Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) Declaring his candidacy for President, 20??
 
President Colin Powell discussion.

It doesn't get covered very often because I think the board consensus is more or less the following:

  • Powell had a better than 50/50 chance of beating Clinton.
  • Powell had a much lower chance of winning the Republican nomination (black, moderate-to-RINO, non-religious).
  • Powell wasn't terribly political and without going full-throated into the 1996 primaries he would have lost the nomination.

I think there's a few Powell timelines around here somewhere but good on you for starting one up.
 
Next update in a few weeks after I get back from Salt Lake. Happy Holidays!

[FONT=&quot]Chapter 1[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"The Powell Doctrine, all or nothing"[/FONT]

"When I first joined the military it was an all or nothing decision. Choices like that have to be, you're either all the way in or all out. That's the same approach that I took to campaigning, and to being President."
- Former President Colin Powell (R-NY), The Challenge of a Lifetime.

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"I was certainly impressed with the man when I first met him, President Clinton he was certainly competent and seemed to herald a break from the past of old democratic politics. For my part while I felt bad for my friend losing the election I hoped that this new President could break away from the partisan politics and gridlock that has prevented the enactment of reforms and solutions to this nation’s problems. The next two years however would prove to be decisive, as I quickly watched as the politics of the “usual” once again dominated Washington. And I couldn’t help to think of what might’ve been. I was approached before Clinton picked Gore for VP. A mutual friend asked me, I said no of course wanting to remain loyal to my friend the now former President Bush. But still I think about that decision. I remember back in 91 when the President had his heart scare Time Magazine had a cover issue making the case why Quayle should be dropped and why I and four others should be considered instead. But it wasn’t flattery that made me reconsider my position it was....a new understanding.”
- The Powell Diaries


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“I believe it was sometime in 93 when dad started seriously thinking about the Presidency. After the DADT issue kind of soured him towards the current political climate, and the fact that Clinton got pulled into such an issue annoyed him. Of course apart of it was his love for the military, and the sort of political games that were being played with them at the time were hard for him to take. But another part of it was that since he appeared in the spotlight everyone kept urging him to run for President. He himself didn’t buy into the glamor nor the flattery, but as he watched the growing political fights between the administration and Congress. The fact that both parties chased after political victory rather than principled solutions it sort of pushed him to take a hard look at what he wanted for himself and more importantly his country.”
- Congressman Michael Powell (R-NY), My Father and the Presidency

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"I got call today from General Powell, and he wanted to talk to me about employing my services for a future run for the White House. I jumped on board immediately mostly because I wanted the chance to work with a great candidate. Also because after my experience with the Perot campaign in 92 I was eager to jump back into Republican Politics, (the General assured me he would be running as a Republican), but he also wanted to talked me about the 94 Midterms coming up. The General was talking about running a new kind of campaign, one in which political support was built up early in the process. The way he talked about it was the way I would imagine military strategy was planned. His doctrine for politics wasn't entirely new, but it was brilliant politically for a man who I thought up till now wanted nothing to do with politics."
- Ed Rollins, Journal Entry, Jan. 3 1994
 
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