Colin Powell (U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff)

E25553

diplomat general human military officer politician statesman

Colin Powell was a four-star U.S. Army general and statesman who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and later as Secretary of State, playing a central leadership role in U.S. military and foreign policy at the end of the 20th century.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Colin Powell	33
Colin L. Powell	2
Colin Luther Powell	1
Colin Powell (U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff) canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T104985 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Colin Powell (U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Context triple: [Gulf War, commandedBy, Colin Powell (U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff)]

A. Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld was an American politician and businessman best known for serving twice as U.S. Secretary of Defense, including during the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War.
B. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was a United States Army general best known for commanding coalition forces during the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) in 1991.
C. John Negroponte
John Negroponte is an American diplomat and government official who has served in numerous high-level roles, including U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Iraq.
D. Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara was a prominent American business executive and U.S. Secretary of Defense best known for his central role in shaping U.S. strategy during the Vietnam War and later leadership of the World Bank.
E. John F. Kelly
John F. Kelly is a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who served in the Trump administration, including as White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Homeland Security.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Colin Powell (U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Target entity description: Colin Powell was a four-star U.S. Army general and statesman who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and later as Secretary of State, playing a central leadership role in U.S. military and foreign policy at the end of the 20th century.

A. Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld was an American politician and businessman best known for serving twice as U.S. Secretary of Defense, including during the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War.
B. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was a United States Army general best known for commanding coalition forces during the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) in 1991.
C. John Negroponte
John Negroponte is an American diplomat and government official who has served in numerous high-level roles, including U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Iraq.
D. Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara was a prominent American business executive and U.S. Secretary of Defense best known for his central role in shaping U.S. strategy during the Vietnam War and later leadership of the World Bank.
E. John F. Kelly
John F. Kelly is a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who served in the Trump administration, including as White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Homeland Security.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (60)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	diplomat ⓘ general ⓘ human ⓘ military officer ⓘ politician ⓘ statesman ⓘ
allegiance	United States of America ⓘ
awardReceived	Army Distinguished Service Medal ⓘ Bronze Star Medal ⓘ Congressional Gold Medal ⓘ Defense Distinguished Service Medal ⓘ Legion of Merit ⓘ Presidential Citizens Medal ⓘ Presidential Medal of Freedom ⓘ Purple Heart ⓘ
birthDate	1937-04-05 ⓘ
birthPlace	Harlem ⓘ surface form: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States
burialPlace	Arlington National Cemetery ⓘ
causeOfDeath	complications from COVID-19 ⓘ
coAuthor	Joseph E. Persico ⓘ
conflictParticipatedIn	Gulf War ⓘ Operation Just Cause ⓘ surface form: Invasion of Panama Vietnam War ⓘ
countryOfCitizenship	United States of America ⓘ
deathDate	2021-10-18 ⓘ
degreeEarned	Bachelor of Science in Geology ⓘ
educatedAt	City College of New York ⓘ George Washington University ⓘ National War College ⓘ
ethnicGroup	Black Americans ⓘ surface form: African American
familyName	Powell ⓘ
fullName	Colin Powell (U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff) self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Colin Luther Powell
givenName	Colin ⓘ
languageSpoken	English ⓘ
memberOf	Joint Chiefs of Staff ⓘ
militaryBranch	United States Army ⓘ
militaryRank	General ⓘ four-star general ⓘ
notableFor	first African American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ⓘ first African American United States Secretary of State ⓘ
notableWork	My American Journey ⓘ Powell Doctrine ⓘ
numberOfChildren	3 ⓘ
officeEnd	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:1993-09-30 ⓘ United States Secretary of State:2005-01-26 ⓘ
officeStart	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:1989-10-01 ⓘ United States Secretary of State:2001-01-20 ⓘ
parentOf	Michael K. Powell ⓘ
politicalParty	Republican Party ⓘ surface form: Republican Party (United States)
positionHeld	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ⓘ Commander of United States Army Forces Command ⓘ Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States ⓘ United States National Security Advisor ⓘ surface form: National Security Advisor of the United States Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense ⓘ United States Secretary of State ⓘ
presidentServedUnder	Bill Clinton ⓘ George H. W. Bush ⓘ George W. Bush ⓘ
religion	Episcopalian ⓘ
spouse	Alma Johnson Powell ⓘ

How these facts were elicited