Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell died on Monday following complications from Covid-19, his family said in a Facebook post.
Powell, 84, had been receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center and was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, his family wrote.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” his family said.
Powell was the first US Black secretary of state when he was appointed by President George W Bush in 2001.
Powell served two tours in Vietnam in the Army. He was President Ronald Reagan’s deputy national security adviser, and then national security adviser. He was promoted to the rank of general in 1989, and chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George HW Bush.
Powell oversaw 28 crises as the Joint Chiefs chair, according to the State Department. They included Operation Desert Storm in 1991 ― the military response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. It was the first US major foreign crisis since the Cold War.