Joseph Efken
14 March 2014
Research Paper Rough Draft
Colin Powell was born on April 5, 1937 in a Harlem New York hospital. His parents were immigrants from Jamaica. Colin grew up in the south Bronx in a neighborhood nicknamed “Banana Kelly”. His father pushed him to get a good education and Colin tried to study and get good grades but he graduated high school from Morris High School with a C average. Even though this was not an outstanding average you could get his father was not angry at him. After high school Colin went to a city college in New York. Later on Colin married Alma Vivian Johnson and they had three children. Eventually he wrote a best-selling auto-biography.
Colin Luther Powell was born on April 5, 1937 in a Harlem hospital. His parents were Jamaican immigrants who came to New York. Powell grew up in a neighborhood filled with crime and drugs. Colin’s parents did not want him growing up in a neighborhood where he could easily get hurt, so they decided to move to a new neighborhood that would be perfectly fine for Colin to grow up in, make some friends, and go to a well educated school. The neighborhood had a nickname, “Banana Kelly”. His father pushed Colin to get good grades but when he did bad, his father was not mad at him because he knew that Colin was trying. Colin attended public schools while he was in New York.
After attending the public grade schools, Colin went to Morris High School in Harlem, New York. His parents urged him to get a good education and good grades. After graduating from there with a C average, Powell sold toys at a baby store near his neighborhood and he had been working part time, until his boss gave him more hours and a pay increase. While he had been atten...
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... Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagen the United States President. He attained the rank of Major General in the Army. Colin was awarded a Soldiers Medal for rescuing men from a burning helicopter.
Colin Powell was an important man because of his accomplishments while he served in the military. He also played an important role in politics helping our country stay safe and organized. He has been in near death situations multiple times, including the helicopter crash in Vietnam. Colin’s military career started when he was about twenty years old and lasted for more than twenty years. He has proven to be a brave soldier His major accomplishments in the military have not gone unrecognized. In addition to his military acknowledgements, his personal achievements he also wrote a best selling autobiography. Colin is still living today at the age of seventy seven.
Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, in 1924. His father owned a small plot of land and worked as a peanut farmer (“Jimmy Carter Biography” 1). Growing up on a farm taught Carter responsibility and other essential values which would help him later in life. His parents were deeply religious, especially his father, who often taught Sunday school (“Jimmy Carter Biography” 1). Carter's values and traits
Robert S. McNamara served as Secretary of Defense for the United States under both President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968. During his service, McNamara oversaw military action for one of America’s most controversial wars, the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War created a polarity of opinions in the United States over what the correct the course of war would be. Those who advocated for a cease fire were referred to as “doves” while those who preferred elevated military action were called “hawk”. One thing that these two parties could agree upon, however, was a timely end to this highly unpopular war. As the war continued to decline, McNamara’s involvement was scrutinized even more intensely. Popularly dubbed in
In McNamara's first chapter he discusses his journey into the Washington spot light and the three events that shaped his life. The first even that shaped his life was The Great Depression, at the time; fully 25% of male adults of this country were unemployed and McNamara's drive for scholastics excellence derived from the fact that neither his mother, nor father attended college. The second and third events that ultimately shaped McNamara's life was attending the University of California at Berkeley and meeting his wife, Margaret. From Berkeley to Harvard McNamara contours his path into politics. From living in a cramped one bedroom apartment with wife Marg, to being known as apart of the "Whiz Kids" McNamara eventually lands himself the secretary of defense for President Kennedy and created a bond between the two men that will last forever.
His college years took place during the height of the Vietnam War, which he personally supported. Subsequently, he joined the United States Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, but unfortunately his military career was short-lived due to his poor eyesight. After graduating in 1969 with a b...
...ng in Vietnam was his knowledge of guerrilla fighting in Korea, but it is apparent that he had never had any real experience of that kind (although he did receive a promotion to brigadier general… before his one real confrontation). After the Korean War, in 1953 Westmoreland served in various advisory positions in the Pentagon until 1956. Observing Vietnam from a distance, but never actually holding a position directly related to it. He served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff g-1 for Manpower Control, a position he himself thought he was unqualified for writing to a friend, “It is considerably frustrating attempting to fit into this huge and complicated operation without the benefit of G-1 [personnel] background or Indian level training in the Pentagon.” However while he was there he befriended Congressman Gerald Ford, another eager to help him with his career.
Tupac Amaru Shakur born in East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. His birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16 1971. His both parents were members of the Black Panther Party. Tupac Shakur was a vocal participant during the East Coast and West Coast hip hop rivalry. He went to High School in California and Maryland. His career brought him back to New York City. Forget about his education and family background, thinking about how he put himself into his career so successfully. To succeed and accomplishment that made him in legacy…..
John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1917 on the 29th of May. His parents were, Rose Fitzgeralad and Joseph P. Kennedy. Both the Fitzgeralads and the Kennedys were wealthy and prominent Irish catholic Boston families. John F. Kennedy was the second oldest child out of the nine children.
“Climb on one’s back and stand on their shoulders to reach the top” this is what the Coronel Colin Powell hints to recent graduate from the Howard University in 1994. The Commencement Speech was long enough to motivate the graduating students. Also, it was proper and formal. When the speech began, Powell was exciting by ending on sharing his own experiences and giving great advices for those future professionals. Powell´s Commencement Speech demonstrates his interest by sharing his thoughts, and its language was uplifting and captivating. (502).
Barack received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and then worked as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. This helped him gain a lot of confidence and responsibility. He had many plans and goals to make the community better. He achieved his goals and this was just the beginning of a successful path in his life. He decided to attend Harvard Law School, which helped him bring change for himself, his family, and especially to his community. Also in that school he also gained the knowledge and power of becoming a leader that he wanted to become.
Senator Cory Booker was born to two civil rights activists Cary and Carolyn Booker on April 27, 1969 in Washington D.C. Senator Booker was raised in an affluent white neighborhood in New Jersey. Both of Sen. Booker’s parents were among the first African American executives at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Sen. Booker has stated in multiple interviews that his family was able to buy their family home because of housing right activist. (Booker Senate)
No black school was available locally so he was forced to move. He said "Good-bye" to his adopted parents, Susan and Moses, and headed to Newton County in southwest Missouri. Here is where the path of his education began. He studied in a one-room schoolhouse and worked on a farm to pay for it. He ended up, shortly after, moving with another family to Fort Scott in Kansas. In Kansas, he worked as a baker in a kitchen while he attended the High School. He paid for his schooling with the money he earned from winning bake-off contests. From there he moved all over bouncing from school to school. "College entrance was a struggle again because of racial barriers."2 At the age of thirty he gained acceptance to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.
At the age of thirteen he began working in order to earn money for college. He was a shoe shiner, an elevator boy, and a paper boy. He attended the all-black Armstrong High School, where he acted in plays, was a sergeant in the Cadet Corps, and earned good grades, graduating at the age of 16.
Clarence attended St. Benedict’s School in Savannah, which was a school for black boys and was run by Franciscan nuns. Clarence respected the sometimes, harsh discipline from the priests and nuns because, he recalled, “It was a world of order, and that’s exactly what we needed, because there was chaos all around us.” (Source #4) He liked the nuns and priest being harsh because that was what the kids needed. Clarence went to St. Pius X High School, which was run by nuns as well.
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the child of Laurie McLaurin and Robert Fitzgerald Williams. His mother was a former model and his father was a Ford Company Executive (Robin Williams - Biography). As a result of his parents’
Obama’s father left him and his mother when he was only 2 years old. Obama then talks about the family he grew up with, his mother and grandparents, and the racism they dealt with at a time when few accepted interracial relations and even more so marriages. He recalls being made fun of as a young child when other kids would make monkey noises when it was discovered his father was from Kenya. He then moves to Indonesia when his mother remarries, but then at 10 years old moves back to Hawaii where he spent his early childhood. It was with his grandparents that he developed much of his character and learned how strongly education was emphasized in his family.