Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, 84, died Monday due to COVID-19 related complications.
“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,” Powell’s family wrote in an Oct. 18 Facebook post. “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.”
General Powell previously served under four presidents: Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as deputy national security adviser and then as national security adviser, according to ABC News.
Powell also served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the senior ranking member of the U.S. armed forces and top military adviser to the president. He was the first African American ever to hold that post and the first Black secretary of state.
“I’m saddened to hear of the passing of Secretary Colin Powell. He was a dignified man with great integrity. A true definition of a patriot,” U.S. Sen. Gerald Malloy tweeted.
Powell is survived by his wife, Alma Powell, three children, Michael, Linda and Annemarie.
