In Memoriam : Colin Powell, First Black US Secretary of State (1937 – 2021)

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Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state whose leadership in several Republican administrations helped shape American foreign policy in the last years of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, has died from complications from Covid-19, his family said on Facebook. He was 84.

Death of Colin Powell

CNN reports, a source familiar with the matter said Powell was battling multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses the body’s immune response.

Even if fully vaccinated against Covid-19, those who are immunocompromised are at greater risk from the virus.

Powell also suffered from Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition

“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.

“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” they said, noting he was fully vaccinated.

Distinguished Leader

Colin Powell was a distinguished and trailblazing professional soldier whose career took him from combat duty in Vietnam to becoming 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.

While Powell never sealed a White House bid, when he was sworn in as Bush’s secretary of state in 2001, he became the highest-ranking Black public official to date in the country, standing fourth in the presidential line of succession.

“I think it shows to the world what is possible in this country,” Powell said of his history-making nomination during his Senate confirmation hearing. “It shows to the world that: Follow our model, and over a period of time from our beginning, if you believe in the values that espouse, you can see things as miraculous as me sitting before you to receive your approval.”

Powell is survived by his wife, Alma Vivian (Johnson) Powell, whom he married in 1962, as well as three children.