Washington ? After delivering the 2004 commencement speech at Wake Forest University on Monday, Colin Powell shook the hand of every undergraduate.

All 900 of them.

Never mind that the secretary of state had just returned to the United States from the World Economic Forum in Jordan, where he’d been conferring with Arab foreign ministers — a meeting that came hard on the heels of one with the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

This was what passed for a “free” weekend for Powell.

If he was in any way tired from his trips, or fatigued by the constant political heat of the crucible in which he works, it wasn’t evident Monday afternoon as he talked with two dozen opinion writers from across the country.

He was scheduled to be with members of the National Conference of Editorial Writers for 20 minutes. He gave us 45 — and left the impression that he would have talked longer had another speaker not been standing by for his turn in the hot seat.

The 35 years spent as a military man show in Powell’s physical bearing. When he walks into a room, ramrod-straight and confident, it is clear that the general has arrived — and a four-star one at that.

Short of the president — or when a court bailiff orders, “All rise” — it is rare to see journalists, who are by nature and nurture skeptical of authority figures, stand up for anyone. Yet every man and woman in that conference room rose to attention when Powell entered.

When the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff speaks these days, the tone is hardly that of barking orders — unless it is to tell an aide not to stand in the way of Tim Russert’s camera.

Of course, some wish that Powell would be less the diplomat and humble servant of the president and more a kicker of tail and namer of names, denouncing the administration’s erroneous WMD reasons for forging ahead in Iraq.

The atmosphere at the State Department is one of prodigious optimism about Iraq, even in light of the public and foreign relations disaster that is the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse story.

John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is looking forward to his new assignment in Baghdad as ambassador at the largest U.S. embassy in the world. But don’t expect to see him in-country until well after Ambassador Paul Bremer, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, heads back to America.

“I am not replacing Jerry Bremer,” Negroponte said. “Mr. Bremer is handing over authority to the Iraqi government. I am an ambassador to that government; I am not going out there to run a country.”

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was a little miffed at the lack of coverage by the American media of the amount of day-to-day governing that is already in the hands of Iraqis.

Eleven of the nation’s ministries, including foreign affairs and oil, are autonomous in relation to the CPA. With assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development, elections are under way for town council positions.

Powell does not view the Abu Ghraib situation as something that will swamp the U.S. mission to nurture democracy, stability and opportunity throughout the world.

“We are a nation that is able to hold a mirror in front of our face and see the flaws and then go fix the flaws,” Powell said.

If the Founding Fathers could see how the United States has responded to the Abu Ghraib revelations — with investigations, due process and punishment for those found responsible — they would say our democracy “works just the way we designed it,” Powell said.

“Democracy is a life raft, not an ocean liner. Your feet are always wet, and the tides and winds that move you are the will of the people.”

Powell’s days in the spotlight probably are numbered, but whether that will be by his choice or the president’s is anybody’s guess.

He’ll remain the good soldier to his commander in chief until that day comes. In the meantime, he’ll continue to shake hands wherever he finds them.

Jill “J.R.” Labbe is a senior editorial writer and columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.