Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, has died due to complications from COVID-19, his family said on Facebook.
General Powell, who also served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away on Monday, the family said in a statement.
“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.
The four star general has been instrumental in shaping the foreign policy of Republican presidential administrations for decades.
He served as National Security Advisor to former President Ronald Reagan from 1987 to 1989 and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under former President George HW Bush from 1989.
When he was confirmed as former President George Bush’s Secretary of State in 2001, he became the first Black person in US history to take the role. At the time, he also became the highest ranking Black official in US history.
While initially opposing military operation, Powell has been accused of misleading the public in the lead up to US invasion of Iraq in 2003 as he sought to build international support. (Source: Al Jazeera website, headline composed by Newsroom, photo from Google search)
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