NEWS

Colin Powell dies from COVID-19 complications

Published

3 years ago

October 19, 2021

The first African-American US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has died from complications from Covid-19 at the age of 84, his family said on Facebook.

Though fully vaccinated from Covid-19, and treated at Walter Reed National Medical Center, he was suffering from serious underlying conditions.

“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family said.

Powell and his wife, Alma, were tested for Covid last Monday and both tested positive, a family spokesperson told NBC News. Powell was then hospitalized at Walter Reed. Powell had multiple myeloma, a cancer of a type of white blood cell, which can harm the body’s immune system, surgery for prostate cancer when he was Secretary of State and, more recently, Parkinson’s disease.

Powell became the first Black secretary of state under President George W. Bush. As the nation’s chief diplomat, Powell delivered a well-known speech to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003 laying out the White House argument for invading Iraq and stating that there was intelligence that the country had weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. troops launched an invasion the following month. The evidence he presented about Iraq having biological weapons was later proven to be incorrect. Powell left the administration shortly after Bush’s re-election in 2004.

Leaders mourn a ‘trailblazer and role model’

Former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has paid tributes to former United States Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell who died on Monday at age of 84.

In a tribute Dr. Jonathan personally signed, he described late powell as a renowned United States public servant and great leader who left solid and indelible footprints in the sands of time.

The former President further stated: “ Until the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, Colin Powel was the highest ranking African American to have served in the public sector of the United States. In that capacity, he served as a beacon of hope and was a pride of the Black Race.

Powell’s death was met with an outpouring of grief from former and current leaders, including President Joe Biden who described Powell a “dear friend” and a dedicated public servant who broke barriers.

“Colin embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat. He was committed to our nation’s strength and security above all. Having fought in wars, he understood better than anyone that military might alone was not enough to maintain our peace and prosperity. From his front-seat view of history, advising presidents and shaping our nation’s policies, Colin led with his personal commitment to the democratic values that make our country strong. Time and again, he put country before self, before party, before all else — in uniform and out — and it earned him the universal respect of the American people,” Biden said.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served alongside Powell under Bush said he was “deeply saddened to learn that America has lost a leader and statesman. General Powell had a remarkably distinguished career, and I was fortunate to work with him,” Cheney said in a statement, adding that Powell was a “trailblazer and role model.”

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Powell’s predecessor at the department, remembered him on Monday as “a wise and principled man, a loyal friend, and one of the kindest people I have ever met.”

“Although we grew up in different contexts, we bonded over our family’s immigrant stories, our deep love of America, and our belief in the importance of public service,” she said in a statement.

Condoleezza Rice, who succeeded Powell at State following his retirement in 2005, said on Monday that he “was a trusted colleague and a dear friend through some very challenging times,” adding in her own statement that “much of his legacy will live on in the countless number of young lives he touched.”