Powell Won’t Make Bid for White House

Retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, one of the architects of the Western alliance victory in the 1991 Gulf War, said he would not run for president in 2000. Powell, a Republican, told reporters he was more certain of his decision than Michael Jordan was of his this week to retire from professional basketball. Powell, 61, the first black to become the highest-ranking uniformed military officer as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, played a key role in the allied assault on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait. He was courted as a presidential candidate in 1996, but chose not to run.