Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State, Has Died at 84 After COVID-19 Complications
Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and military leader has died due to COVID-19 complications. He was 84. “General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman…
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 20: General Colin Powell speaks at the TIME Summit On Higher Education Day 2 at Time Warner Center on September 20, 2013 in New York City.
(Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for TIME)Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and military leader has died due to COVID-19 complications. He was 84.
"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 per CNN.
"We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather, and a great American," they said, noting he was fully vaccinated.
Born to Jamaican immigrant parents in New York, Powell climbed up the ladder to become the first Black national security adviser during the end of Ronald Reagan's presidency and the youngest and first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush.
Bush said in a statement per CNN Monday that Powell was "a great public servant" who was "such a favorite of Presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- twice. He was highly respected at home and abroad. And most important, Colin was a family man and a friend."
Powell is survived by his wife, Alma Vivian (Johnson) Powell, and his three children Linda, Michael, and Annemarie.
