wolf blitzer looks at his life. i will never not be a soldier. reporter: colin powell, a soldier turned statesman, made history on many fronts. the first african-american and youngest chairin ma of the joint chiefs of staff, and later, the first african-american secretary of state. so i ve always felt strongly that you should try to solve conflicts in this world through negotiations, through diplomacy. any time we can solve a problem that way and not use force and satisfy our objectives, let s push for that. reporter: powell grew up in the brorngs, new york, his parents emigrated from jamaica. by his own admission, he was not an outstanding student. it s been amusing over the years to have people come up to me, general powell, you re chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. when did you graduate from west point? [ laughs ] couldn t have gotten in. reporter: he enrolled in the city college of new york action geology was his major but the rotc became his passion.
history on many fronts, the first african-american and youngest of the joint chiefs of staff and later the first african-american secretary of state. i ve always felt strongly that you should try to solve conflicts in this world through negotiations, through diplomacy. anytime we can solve a problem that way and not use force and satisfy our objectives, let s push for that. reporter: powell grew up in the bronx, new york. his parents emigrated from jamaica. by his own admission, he was not an outstanding student. it s been amusing over the years for people to say you re chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. when did you graduate from west point? couldn t have gotten in. reporter: he enrolled in the city college of new york. geology was his major, but the rotc became his passion. powell flourished as a ka debt and after graduating excelled as soldier. he served two tours of vietnam before earning a prestigious fellowship working for the office of management and budget
push for that. reporter: powell grew up in the bronx, new york, his parents emigrated from jamaica. by his own admission, he was not an outstanding student. it s been amusing over the years to have people come up to me, general powell, you re chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. when did you graduate from west point? [ laughs ] couldn t have gotten in. reporter: he enrolled in the city college of new york. geology was his major but the rotc became his passion. powell flourished as a cadet, and after graduating, exceled as a soldier. he served two tours in vietnam before earning a prestigious fellowship during the nixon era in 1972. afterwards, powell returned to his troops eventually becoming a general and went back to the white house in 1987 as president reagan s national security adviser. then in 1989, the general became the highest ranking officer in