THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 4, 1995 TAG: 9509040035
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
In his new book, retired Gen. Colin Powell says he was asked to consider being candidate Bill Clinton's running mate, and that he was approached twice about becoming the president's secretary of state.
Previously, Powell turned down a chance to become director of the CIA when then President-elect Bush offered him the job in 1988, according to the Sept. 11 issue of Newsweek magazine, which obtained a copy of Powell's autobiography, ``My American Journey.''
Powell declined the Bush-CIA job. In 1989, Bush appointed him chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which Powell held until 1993, when he retired.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry, traveling with Clinton in Hawaii, did not dispute Powell's assertions about Clinton.
``I think you know that the president cast a wide net as he was searching for a running mate,'' McCurry said. ``It is no secret that President Clinton has very high regard for Gen. Powell, as do many Americans.''
McCurry said Clinton settled on Al Gore and looks forward to being re-elected with him. ``All the rest is ancient history,'' McCurry said.
McCurry also did not deny that the White House had approached Powell about being Clinton's secretary of state after the election, and again in 1994, when Secretary of State Warren Christopher's future in the administration was on the line.
McCurry said that when Christopher had expressed concerns about staying on as secretary of state, it would not have been surprising for the president to sound out others about such a sensitive post.
McCurry said Christopher and the president talked at the beginning of 1995 about what Christopher should do, and eventually decided that he should remain on the job.
``Obviously, these are very sensitive personnel discussions and apparently Gen. Powell has felt free to write about that,'' the press secretary said. ``That's his right, as an American.''
Powell's 613-page book doesn't explicitly state Powell's political ambitions, although he says he is uncomfortable with both major parties. And Powell doesn't reveal detailed political views, either.
Instead, Powell lays out what Newsweek calls a ``bland set of conservative principles'' that would allow him to run for president as either an independent or a moderate Republican. He favors low taxes, faith in free enterprise and new scrutiny of entitlements, for example.
But in fact, more is known about Powell's views than is generally acknowledged. He has said enough, in interpolations into his standard speech and in answers to questions posed by members of his audiences, to suggest that he holds centrist views on such questions as affirmative action, abortion and social welfare, in contrast to his better-known conservative views on fiscal and foreign policy issues.
In a speech to the American Bar Association's section on business law in Chicago on Aug. 8, for example, he was clear in his support for affirmative action programs. He did not say precisely how far he would go in seeking to reduce past racial abuses, though he emphasized his opposition to quotas.
Some programs ``have outlived their usefulness and probably should be eliminated,'' the general conceded. Nonetheless, he argued: ``People of color, particularly African-Americans in our inner cities, are getting further and further left behind. There's a bigger gulf. In the neighborhood I grew up in, we always had a sense of hope, even during the days of segregation. But some of that hope is now being lost in some of our inner cities.''
On other occasions, he has said he opposes abortion but that, in the end, he also opposes legislation to prohibit abortion. He has expressed tentative disapproval of the proposed constitutional amendment to ban flag burning.
A Newsweek poll indicates that if Powell wants a top job at the White House, he may succeed by resisting the temptation to run as an independent and winning a Republican nomination as a presidential or vice presidential candidate.
In a three-way race against GOP Sen. Bob Dole and President Clinton, Powell finished last with 21 percent of registered voters who participated in a telephone survey. Clinton won support from 36 percent, and Dole got 33 percent, Newsweek said.
But as the Republican candidate, Powell trounced Clinton in the poll by as many as 10 percentage points. As a GOP vice presidential candidate, Powell would boost Dole to victory, beating a Clinton-Gore ticket 51 percent to 44 percent, the poll showed.
The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points for registered voters. The overall margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points for the total sample of 758 people, who were interviewed on Aug. 30 and Aug. 31.
Powell used the memoir to describe his recipe for success as a combination of racial tolerance, self-reliance, hard work and family unity. Powell was born in New York to Jamaican parents who immigrated to the United States.
The book does reveal aspects about Powell.
For example, Powell, admits to having a hot temper.
He also discloses that his memorable description of U.S. strategy against the Iraqi Army during the Persian Gulf War - ``First we're going to cut it off, and then we're going to kill it'' - was not spontaneous. He and his aides carefully rehearsed it the day before.
He plans a 25-city book tour for his $35 book, which was co-written by Joseph E. Persico.
The autobiography is scheduled to arrive in book stores next week.
The book tour has become something of a media event.
Time magazine has a cover story and 7,500 words of excerpts from the book in the issue that hits the newsstands on Sept. 11. On Sept. 15, ABC will broadcast an hourlong interview with Barbara Walters. On Sept. 17 Powell will be on Parade's cover. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Associated Press
Retired Gen. Colin Powell says in his new book that he was
approached twice about becoming President Clinton's secretary of
state.
by CNB