Skillful manager, solitary dissenter

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was in no mood for reminiscences when he met with reporters in the State Department briefing room yesterday, hours after the White House announced his resignation.

“I’m still the secretary of state, and as President Bush has made it clear, I operate with his full authority,” he said.

“I think that will be recognized by the people that I deal with around the world,” he added, “so I think I’ll be able to be quite effective for the remaining period of my term.”

Still, he offered a brief reflection on his government career, which has included posts as President Reagan’s national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“In every one of these jobs, there have been high points and low points, and what you have to learn to do in government, or in life, is to work through problems, seize the opportunities as they come along, deal with the crises and challenges as they come along, and that’s always the way I’ve tried to live my life in public service,” he said.

As Mr. Powell relinquishes the nation’s top diplomatic post, he leaves behind a mixed legacy at the State Department — an agency that is in its best bureaucratic shape in decades but that has lost weight in policy-making.

His tenure will be remembered for his skillful management, which lifted morale to levels not seen in 20 years, according to department employees in Washington and around the world.

“He is the mayor of the building,” said Rena Bitter, a consular officer serving at the embassy in London. “People feel like they work for him. They have gotten the message that he cares about the institution. When people perceive loyalty from a leader, they are loyal, too.”

Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to NATO in Brussels, said that “people see him a lot” because “he walks around the building and into offices.”

Mr. Powell yesterday paid tribute to the thousands of State Department employees.

“The greatest privilege I’ve had over the last four years is to be the leader of tens of thousands of wonderful employees of this department … who work so hard on the front lines of freedom and the front lines of our foreign policy, who are at risk every single day and serve our nation so proudly,” he said.

Although they appreciate the increased resources, training and modern technology Mr. Powell brought to the department, some employees say his four years marked one of the agency’s lowest points in terms of its influence and relevance in the policy-making process.

“He fought those fights inside the Cabinet, but people were a little disappointed that, when he’d lose, he’d just be a good soldier and accept what was decided and go with it,” said a Foreign Service officer in the Middle East.

Mr. Powell, who was the most reluctant Cabinet member to support going to war with Iraq, bristles at the suggestion that the department has lost relevance on his watch.

“We are more than carrying our weight and putting more than our finger on the scale,” he told The Washington Times earlier this year.

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