“On Wednesday, November 10 [2004], [Secretary of State Colin] Powell received a telephone call from the White House at his State Department office. The caller was not [President] Bush but [presidential Chief of Staff Andrew] Card, and he got right to the point. ‘The president would like to make a change,’… Bush wanted Powell’s resignation letter dated Friday, November 12, Card said, although the White House expected him to stay at the State Department until his successor could be confirmed by the Senate.”
– Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Page 6