Auto Wreck Led Colin Powell's Son To Establish His Own Identity

WASHINGTON - Some people see Michael Powell as the son of military hero Colin Powell. Some see Michael Powell as a powerful federal regulator, overseeing the telephone, television and radio industries.

But Michael Powell sees himself in three CT scans that aren't merely pictures of a bone-shattering accident, but also a road map to how he would live his life from that point forward.

The 1987 accident put Powell, then 24, in Walter Reed hospital for a year, undergoing grueling treatment to mend a broken spine and crushed pelvis. The accident abruptly ended his military career - where he says he spent some of the happiest moments of his life. But it also started Powell down a new path, professionally and personally.

He returned to school and became a lawyer, specializing in antitrust and communications. And he was reunited with his college sweetheart, Jane Knott, who visited him every day as he recovered. They were married five months after he left the hospital. That was 10 years ago.

Now, when the work of being a Federal Communications Commission member begins to weigh heavily and he needs to feel grounded, Powell reaches into the top drawer of his desk and pulls out the three CT scans: one of his shattered pelvis; a second of it held together by a metal pin; and the third, fully mended.

"It reminds you that life is short. You're guaranteed nothing and that it can end as randomly and as spontaneously as it comes into being," Powell said. "I just don't have time for the negative stuff, for negative people or worrying about some ill."

One of the FCC's five commissioners, Powell is serving at a time of unprecedented upheaval as the telecommunications industry moves from regulation to competition. His decisions will help shape how Americans receive communications services, and how much they pay for them, into the 21st century.

Powell believes competition and deregulation are the best ways to keep cable and phone prices in check and speed new services to the public. Still, he thinks there is some role for the government to play in making sure minorities and poor people are not left out.

Powell was chief of staff for the Justice Department's antitrust chief, Joel Klein, when President Clinton last year appointed him to fill one of the two Republican spots on the five-member panel.

"I'm sure there was a whole lot of people in this town that, when my name surfaced, they said, `He must be getting this because he's the son of somebody,' " Powell said. "Personally, I really enjoy the fact that some people have underestimated expectations of me. That's just great because it is just running room. Sure, go ahead and underestimate me."

Former colleagues describe Powell as hardworking and disciplined yet easygoing.

There's no doubt that coming from a "name family" gave Powell opportunities, "but he has succeeded absolutely on merit," said Arthur Culvahouse, President Reagan's former White House counsel and managing partner of the high-powered law firm, O'Melveny & Myers, where Powell once worked.

Colin Powell, who considered running for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, was the first black to serve as White House national-security adviser and the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"He doesn't need Colin Powell . . . to set the stage for him. He can do it for himself," the elder Powell said of his son. It was always that way. "He was an independent kid who made up his own mind about things."

Born March 23, 1963, in Birmingham, Ala., while his father was in Vietnam, Michael Powell was a high-school gymnast and active in theater. His close-knit family, including two younger sisters, moved 22 times during the elder Powell's rise through the military.

Michael Powell said he feels "no angst or anxiety" about being Colin's Powell's son. Two of his father's theories on life guide him: "Life is like a journey on a train. You should be happy wherever it stops," and, "Opportunity knocks for everybody but everybody doesn't have their bags packed."

Will the journey take him on a career in politics? Neither Powell, nor people who know him well, including his father, will rule it out.

"I think that's a real possibility. He's sort of a political natural," said Klein, Powell's former boss at the Justice Department.

Said Powell: "My theory is I keep my bags over here and I keep the motor running and I don't really worry about making opportunity as much as waiting for it - and when it's there I'm going to go through the door."