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                                                                   Exhibit 24(a)

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

         We, the undersigned directors of Wachovia Corporation, and each of us,
do hereby make, constitute and appoint Kenneth W. McAllister and Alice
Washington Grogan, and each of them (either of whom may act without the consent
or joinder of the other), our attorneys-in-fact and agents with full power of
substitution for us and in our name, place and stead, in any and all capacities,
to file a Registration Statement on Form S-3 or other applicable form, relating
to an offering of up to an aggregate of $900,000,000 of preferred securities by
one or more Delaware business trust subsidiaries of the Corporation, a like
amount of junior subordinated debentures of the Corporation, and guarantees by
the Corporation of the above-referenced preferred securities with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, and to sign any and all amendments (including
post-effective amendments) to the Registration Statement, and to file the same,
with any exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact, and
each of them individually, full power and authority to do and perform each and
every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in the premises, as fully
to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying
and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact or either of them, or their
substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we the undersigned have executed this Power of
Attorney this 24th day of July, 1998.

/s/  L. M. Baker, Jr.                       /s/  James S. Balloun
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L. M. Baker, Jr.                            James S. Balloun

/s/  James F. Betts                         /s/  Peter C. Browning
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James F. Betts                              Peter C. Browning

/s/.  John T. Casteen III                   /s/  John L. Clendenin
- -----------------------------------         ------------------------------------
John T. Casteen III                         John L. Clendenin

/s/  Lawrence M. Gressette, Jr.             /s/  Thomas K. Hearn, Jr.
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Lawrence M. Gressette, Jr.                  Thomas K. Hearn, Jr.

/s/  George W. Henderson III                /s/  W. Hayne Hipp
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George W. Henderson III                     W Hayne Hipp

                                            /s/  George R. Lewis
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Robert A. Ingram                            George R. Lewis

/s/  John G. Medlin, Jr.                    /s/  Lloyd U. Noland III
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John G. Medlin, Jr.                         Lloyd U. Noland III

/s/  Sherwood H. Smith, Jr.
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Sherwood H. Smith, Jr.                      John C. Whitaker, Jr.