In their military retirement both have undertaken major initiatives focused on the
condition of the youth of their day and in the shaping of their character.
Both came from humble unassuming backgrounds. Colin Powell the son of Jamaican
immigrants and B-P a product of the public schools of Great Britain where his parents
scarcely had the funds to send him to Charterhouse School.
Both were considered cutting edge Generals who managed to break the glass ceilings of
traditions: Colin Powell by becoming the first African-American to serve as the head of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff and B-P by becoming the youngest officer in the British Army to
ever have achieved the rank of Lt. General (by a margin of more than a decade over other
officers of similar rank).
Both Generals were so well respected that each has had statutes erected in other
nations (Colin Powell in Kuwait & B-P in many countries).
Both Generals were prolific authors and speakers having written best selling
autobiographies: Lessons from the Varsity of Life (B-P) and My American Journey (Colin
Powell).
Both Generals were wooed by politicians on both sides of the political isle. B-P by
both the Torrys and Liberals, Colin Powell by the Democrats and Republicans. Both Generals
forswore continued work in the political arena in favor of a different form of public
service by working with youth.
Both Generals were the subject of public attacks and rumors from the rogue nations of
their day. Germany of World War I placing a bounty on B-P's head convinced he was
orchestrating a master spy campaign against their nation as Great Britain defeated them in
World War I and in the case of Colin Powell who has been roundly denounced by Iraq's Sadam
Hussein.
Both men were the benefactors of a media frenzy throughout much of their military and
post military career. Always being speculated about, sought after, and both were very
adapt at using that media attention as a bully pulpit for the cause that they both
personally championed– the cause of the moral condition of the youth of their day.
Both Baden-Powell and Colin Powell have been knighted in Great Britain. B-P by Queen
Victoria and Colin Powell by Queen Elizabeth II
