State Department

Colin L. Powell
Secretary
202-647-5291
A favorite parlor game in Washington is handicapping whether Powell will eventually win an internal power struggle against the hard-liners among the Administration's foreign affairs and national security team. Signs of those tensions have been evident in Republican criticisms of Powell's plan for new "smart sanctions" against Iraq and in the distinctly different tones that Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld struck when dealing with China earlier this year after the downing of a U.S. Navy surveillance plane. "Colin Powell has had the most consistent voice and message among the Bush team, but he's had his knuckles cracked a couple of times," said Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser for the elder Bush. Scowcroft, who has worked closely with Powell, Cheney, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, credits Powell for winning a badly needed increase in the State Department budget: "I think Powell was quick to note the decay in the State Department, and he has spent a lot of time restoring morale." With a compelling life story-a son of Jamaican immigrants rises up from New York City slums to become the highest military officer in the land-Powell, 64, should never be counted out. He grew up in the South Bronx and graduated from City College of New York, and he later took an MBA at George Washington University. In a 35-year Army career, Powell earned four stars, many medals, and the top job as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Before joining the Bush Administration, Powell was chairman of America's Promise, a nonprofit group dedicated to mentoring the nation's youth.

Richard Armitage
Deputy Secretary
202-647-9640
The No. 2 at State is a man Colin Powell has called a "friend of the heart," and is one of the true characters of Washington. Armitage, 56, is a fireplug of a figure who served three tours in Vietnam as a riverine warrior and is known to cuss like the ex-sailor that he is. He and Powell first met in the early 1980s as members of the staff of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, and they have remained close ever since. Certainly Armitage's tenacity and troubleshooting skills will serve him well as deputy secretary. After graduating from the Naval Academy and serving six years in the Navy, he shed the uniform for a civilian suit in the 1970s, but he served in Saigon in the office of the U.S. defense attache. There, he helped to organize the removal of naval personnel and assets before the city fell to Communist forces. He then went to another trouble spot-Iran under the shah-before moving to Washington to act as administrative assistant to Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan. In the 1980s, he served as deputy assistant secretary of Defense for East Asia and Pacific affairs and assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs. In the early 1990s, Armitage directed U.S. assistance to the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Before joining the Bush Administration, Armitage was president of his consulting firm in Virginia, Armitage Associates. He grew up in Georgia.

Grant S. Green Jr.
Undersecretary for Management
202-647-1500
Green, 63, brings 22 years of valuable experience in the U.S. Army to the thankless task of managing the far-flung State Department bureaucracy. The job is a particular challenge because of the independent, professional nature of the diplomatic corps and because of geography: Just try managing people and real estate spread across 178 embassies and consulates in 130 countries. It is Green, for example, who will be responsible for completing the security upgrades at U.S. embassies in the wake of terrorist attacks during the previous Administration. He prepped for this job as assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration, where he was in charge of all Army personnel matters. Before that assignment, he made the trains run on time as executive secretary of the National Security Council. In the private sector, Green was chairman and president of GMD Solutions, Inc., a consulting firm, and held senior management positions with Sears World Trade. Born in Washington state, Green grew up all over the country, as his father, too, was in the military. He graduated from the University of Arkansas and has a graduate degree from George Washington University.

David G. Carpenter
Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security
202-647-6290
When Carpenter was first sworn into his job on August 11, 1998, it was just four days after the bombings of the U.S. embassies in East Africa-hardly an easy time to start work. Little wonder that Carpenter, 54, who spent 26 years in the Secret Service before joining State, has been busily overseeing a big intensification of security at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. And Colin Powell has asked him to stay on. In his three years on the job, Carpenter boasts, "we've roughly increased [security] personnel about 50 percent," noting that some of the increase was made possible by a special $1.6 billion supplemental appropriation in 1998. Carpenter's office, which has a yearly budget of $600,000, manages not only all of State's security programs, but also the protection of classified national security information that's produced and stored in government facilities. Carpenter knows the protection game: At Secret Service, he was special agent in charge of the office responsible for protecting the President. A native of Denver, Carpenter has a B.A. in personnel management from Oklahoma State University.

Ruth A. Davis
Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources
202-647-9898
During a U.S. Foreign Service career dating back to 1969, Davis has held posts in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and the experience should give her ample perspective for her new job. Davis will handle all the human resource and personnel issues for the State Department's 36,000 employees in the United States and abroad. Davis is also responsible for all hiring and promoting in both the Foreign Service and Civil Service divisions at State. Soft-spoken yet possessing a sense of humor, Davis is also serious about expanding State's resources. "For a long time at State, we've been plagued with a deficient number of employees," she says, adding that if the requested budget increases are met, there will be more hiring. A native of Atlanta, Davis graduated from Spelman College and earned a master's degree from the School of Social Work at the University of California (Berkeley). Most recently, Davis, 58, served from 1997-2001 as director of the Foreign Service Institute. Davis was also ambassador to Benin from 1992-95 and consul general in Barcelona, Spain, from 1987-91.

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