Colin Powell: A trailblazing legacy, blotted by Iraq war

　コリン・パウエル元国務長官が死去した。84歳だった。

　今日のGetUpEnglishはこのニュースを読んでみよう。

　https://apnews.com/article/obit-colin-powell-7515320f99deb1bee932b5a2fefb4429

A child of working-class Jamaican immigrants in the Bronx, Colin Powell rose from neighborhood store clerk to warehouse floor-mopper to the highest echelons of the U.S. government. It was a trailblazing American dream journey that won him international acclaim and trust.

It was that credibility he put on the line in 2003 when, appearing before the United Nations as secretary of state, he made the case for war against Iraq. When it turned out that the intelligence he cited was faulty and the Iraq War became a bloody, chaotic nightmare, Powell’s stellar reputation was damaged.

　put on the line: 危険にさらした

　put.. on the lineは、以下のE-DICの説明がわかりやすい。

直訳すると「～をその線上に置く」ということになるが、ここでのthe lineは「賭け金を置くための目印としてギャンブル台に引いてある線」の意味。したがって、比喩的に「～を賭ける」とか「～を危うくする、危険にさらす」ことを指す。例えばput one's reputation on the lineは「名声を賭ける、危険にさらす」といった意味合いになる。以下のように使われる。

　以下のように使われる。

○Practical Example

  I put my job on the line when I defended her.

「彼女をかばったら、僕の職が危うくなってしまった」

Still, it wasn’t destroyed. After leaving government, he became an elder statesman on the global stage and the founder of an organization aimed at helping young disadvantaged Americans. Republicans wanted him to run for president. After becoming disillusioned with his party, he ended up endorsing the last three Democratic presidential candidates, who welcomed his support.