The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

by Samantha Power

And, as if on cue, I heard Obama’s voice beckoning someone down the hall. Jones was a six-foot-four former Georgetown basketball forward and decorated Vietnam War veteran who had risen through the ranks of the military to become a four-star general. He kept his hair trimmed short and had the lean physique of someone still ready to suit up for battle. Although he cut an imposing figure, he was wonderfully informal as he escorted me into his office. “Pretty cool here, isn’t it?” he said. His shelves were already lined with photos of his grandchildren and dozens of “challenge coins” bearing the insignia of the various US military detachments he had served in or visited over the course of a forty-year military career. I had first heard about Jones from Fred Cuny, who had spoken glowingly about the general’s provision of US military protection to Kurds in Northern Iraq after the Persian Gulf War. As we sat down at Jones’s conference table, I mentioned that Fred had helped inspire my early career choices. Jones broke into a broad smile and, for the next ten minutes, talked about their partnership and the gaping hole left by Fred’s death.