Colin Powell, the former United States secretary of state and the first Black person in the country’s history to fill the position, has died due to complications from COVID-19, his family has said.
Powell, a four-star general who last held public office in 2005, died on Monday, the family said in a statement on Facebook. He was 84.
‘He was fully vaccinated. We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment. We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,’ the Powell family said.
Colin Powell, who served in the military from the early days of the Vietnam era through America’s first war with Iraq, was the nation’s first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of State.
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Upon news of his death, leaders and former colleagues hailed him as a leader and a hero. Former President George W. Bush, whom Powell served as secretary of State, praised him as a ‘great public servant.’
Powell’s death also triggered reminders of one of the darker moments in his otherwise distinguished career.
After four decades in public service as America’s top soldier, diplomat and national security advisor, Powell’s influence in shaping U.S. diplomacy was later marred by his argument for the Iraq War, which started in 2003. Following America’s entry into lengthy wars in the Middle East, Powell admitted his support for combat in Iraq haunted him.
‘It has blotted my record, but – you know – there’s nothing I can do to change that blot,’ he said in 2011. “All I can say is that I gave it the best analysis that I could.”
Powell’s family announced his death Monday in a Facebook post.
‘General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning due to complications from Covid 19,’ the Powell family wrote on Facebook.
The family thanked the staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, where Powell was receiving care.
Powell had multiple myeloma, It is a type of blood cancer that hurts the body’s ability to fight infections.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
