US Elections 2012: Colin Powell Endorses President Obama (Video)

Republican and former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed President Barack Obama for a second term Thursday as he told CBS'"This Morning" via HuffPost. Powell served as Secretary of State, under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position.

CBS anchor asked, will you endorse Presidential Obama on US election next month, "You know, I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012, and I'll be voting for he and Vice President Joe Biden next month," Powell said. Asked whether it was an endorsement, he said, "Yes."

Powell explained why he is voting for Obama, and even praised the president's handling of the economy in digging out of the reccession in 2009 and ending the war in Iraq. "When he took over, the country was in a very difficult straits, where in the worst recession we've ever seen in recent times closed to depression. The fiscal system were collapsing, the Wall Street was in cause, we have 800,000 jobs lost during the first month of the Obama administration."

Powell continued, "And I saw in the next sevral years, stabilization comeback in the financial community, housing started to pick up after four years, consumer confidence rising and so I think generally we came out of the dive and we started gaining altitude." Powell thinks that we ought to keep on the track we are on.

However, Powell also explain why he isn't voting for Republican candidate Mitt Romney by saying he had the "utmost respect" for Mitt Romney but criticized his tax plan.

He said Romney's foreign policy was a "moving target." Powell continued, "One day he has a certain strong view about staying in Afghanistan, but then on Monday night he agrees with the withdrawal. Same thing in Iraq. On every issue that was discussed on Monday night, Gov. Romney agreed with the president with some nuances. But this is quite a different set of foreign policy views than he had earlier in the campaign."

The well decorated military an public servant, once became Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor, serving from 1987 to 1989 while retaining his Army commission as a lieutenant general.

As Secretary of State in the Bush administration, Powell was perceived as moderate. Powell initially opposed to a forcible overthrow of Saddam, preferring to continue a policy of containment. However, Powell eventually agreed to go along with the Bush administration's determination to remove Saddam.

In September 2005, two years after the invassion in Iraq, Powell was asked about the speech during an interview with Barbara Walters and responded that it was a "blot" on his record. He went on to say, "It will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now."

On November 2004, Bush nominated Condoleezza Rice as the Secretary of State and replaced Collin Powell.