He's served as Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but on Tuesday night Colin Powell reiterated another part of his resume — that of C student. Powell, discussing his new book on leadership "It Worked for Me" at the Sixth and I Synagogue, talked about being the son of Jamaican immigrants, the expectations set upon him, and not living up to those expectations as a young man.

"My cousins became lawyers and doctors and judges and I just sort of hung around," he recalled. "I had a straight C average all the way through high school and the City College of New York — I'm not sure how I got in." It was ROTC that was his saving grace. "I got straight As in ROTC, so the administration rolled my As into the overall grade point average and that got me to a 2.0," he chuckled. These days, he's considered one of his college's greatest graduates.

"They've named a center after me, the Colin Powell Center for Leadership and Service," he laughed. "My professors are rolling over in their graves."