Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who endorsed President Obama in 2008, said Tuesday that he is not yet ready to back the president for re-election because he is also considering the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, who he considers a “good man.”
“I always keep my powder dry, as we say in the military,” Powell said during an interview on NBC’s “Today.” “I feel as a private citizen I ought to listen to what the president says and what the president’s been doing. But, you know, I also have to listen to what the other fellow is saying. I’ve known Mitt Romney for many years — good man.”
Powell, a retired four-star general who served as secretary of state under former President George W. Bush, said Obama has been a transformational figure, but gave his first presidential term a mixed review.
“There are some things that he has done I wish he had not done, for example, leave Guantanamo open. I would have closed that rapidly. He tried, he was stopped by Congress,” Powell said. “He stabilized the financial system, he brought about stability in the economy. He fixed the auto industry.”
But Powell said the economy is not improving quickly enough.
“His number one goal for the rest of this year, as it should’ve been for the whole four years, is to get the economy running again,” he said.
Powell appeared on “Today” to promote his new book, “It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership.”