Powell Allen Moore (January 5, 1938 – August 13, 2018) was an American Republican Party politician and public servant, who was an official in the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

and the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

Early life

A native of Milledgeville, Georgia, Powell A. Moore was educated at the

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as M ...

, and then the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, from which he received his A.B.J. in Journalism in 1959. After college, Moore joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, serving in the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

. He was stationed in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and was present there when the Berlin Wall was erected. He served for four years and attained the rank of captain.

Political career

Upon leaving the Army, Moore joined the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

as Deputy Director of Public Information. In 1966, he became

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dut ...

for Sen. Richard Russell, Jr. ( D– GA), a position he held until Senator Russell's death in January 1971. In 1973 and 1974, Moore was a Senior

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

Legislative aide under Presidents

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and Gerald Ford. He returned to the White House Legislative Staff in 1981 under President Ronald Reagan. During this period, Moore was involved in the White House's efforts to have Sandra Day O'Connor

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

as a member of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. In 1982, President Reagan nominated Moore as

Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs within the United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department ...

and Moore subsequently held this office from February 8, 1982, until August 5, 1983. From 1998 to 2001, Moore was the chief of staff of Sen. Fred Thompson ( R– TN). In 2001, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

nominated Moore as

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, or ASD(LA), is the head of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, responsible for providing support to the Secretary of Defense (SecDef) in his/her dealings with ...

, and Moore was sworn in on May 4, 2001. Moore left the

in December 2004, joining McKenna, Long & Aldridge. He returned to government service in 2006 when

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The ...

Donald Rumsfeld named Moore as his representative to the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

. He left government service in 2009, joining

Venable LLP Venable LLP is an American law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is the largest law firm in the state of Maryland. Founded in 1900 by Richard Venable in Baltimore, today Venable has 10 offices across the United States and 800 attorneys w ...

Death

Moore died in Washington, D.C., on August 13, 2018, at the age of 80.

References

External links

Profile from Venable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Powell A. 1938 births 2018 deaths United States Assistant Secretaries of State United States Assistant Secretaries of Defense People from Milledgeville, Georgia Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) University of Georgia alumni United States Department of Justice officials George W. Bush administration personnel