Born in Cordele, Georgia,[2] Powell grew up on a farm in Vienna, 35 miles east of Carter's home town of Plains.

[1] He attended the United States Air Force Academy beginning in 1961, but was expelled three years later for cheating on a history exam.

[1] In the run-up to the 1976 presidential election, Time Magazine profiled Powell, anticipating that if Carter were elected, Powell would serve a "dual role as adviser and spokesman" and would become one of the most powerful White House press secretaries in history due to his close relationship with Carter.

[7] Powell served as White House press secretary for Carter's entire term as president.

[8] In 1990, he participated in Ken Burns' PBS documentary miniseries The Civil War, lending his distinctive voice to Confederate figures of the American Civil War, notably Generals Stonewall Jackson, John B. Gordon, and Nathan Bedford Forrest.