HONG KONG — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who broke with the Republican party to endorse Barack Obama, called Obama's election as the country's first black president "historic" and said he would be a president for all Americans.

"President-elect Obama is going to be a president for all of America," Powell said Wednesday night during a visit in Hong Kong. "He also happens to be black, which makes it a very, very historic occasion."

A Republican and retired general who was President George W. Bush's first secretary of state, Powell surprised the political world last month when he backed Obama over Sen. John McCain, casting the Democrat as a "transformational figure" who would seek to unite the country.

At the time Powell, who is also black, said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but that was not the dominant factor in his decision.

"The American people are responding with great emotion and with great pride in our system that we have seen this latest step in reconciliation with respect to our race relations," he told reporters at a hotel.

"We have not completely reconciled within my society, with my country. But what Mr. Obama represents is the best of America," he said.

Powell became emotional as he talked about how far the U.S. had come in electing a black president.

"He has run a campaign that is inclusive ... The fact that he is also black just has turned American on. It's very emotional," Powell said, his eyes moistening.

Powell said he believes Obama will work, "perhaps more broadly than the past administration ... with allies, to listening to allies, to hearing what they have to say, and taking their interests into account."

Powell said he did not expect to serve in an Obama administration but would be available to offer his counsel whenever needed.

Powell chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's top military post, during the first Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush. As secretary of state, he helped make the case before the United Nations for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, launched in March 2003.