Colin Powell, the first black Secretary of State of the United States, has died of cancer at 84

Colin Powell, a US combat hero and the first Black secretary of state, died of complications with Covid-19. Powell’s legacy was damaged when he made the case for war in Iraq in 2003. He was 84 years old when he died.
The family released a message on social media on Monday, saying, “We have lost an amazing and loving husband, father, grandpa, and a great American.”

The retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who served four presidents, built a reputation as a man of integrity who stayed out of politics, making him a valuable asset in the halls of power.

He was so well-liked after the 1991 Gulf War that he was tipped to be the next president of the United States, but he never campaigned for the office.

“General Powell is an American hero, an American example, and a great American storey,” George W. Bush said when announcing Powell’s nomination. Powell, the son of Jamaican immigrants who became the Republican president’s secretary of state in 2000, is an American hero, an American example, and a great American storey.

“Colin Powell displays… characteristics that will make him a wonderful representation of all the people of this nation in his directness of speech, his towering integrity, his profound appreciation for our democracy, and his soldier’s sense of duty and honour.”

But it was difficult for him to forget his infamous UN Security Council statement in February 2003 concerning the purported presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — evidence that was subsequently shown to be bogus.

“It’s a blemish on my record… and it’ll always be there. It was excruciatingly uncomfortable. It’s excruciating right now “Powell stated in an interview with ABC News in 2005.

‘A true statesman soldier’

Congressional tributes flowed in, with Democratic Senator Mark Warner hailing Powell as “a patriot and a public servant,” and House Republican Peter Meijer describing him as “a real soldier statesman” in the modern era.

Powell had been properly vaccinated, according to the family statement.

Powell was born in Harlem on April 5, 1937, and his “American Journey,” as his autobiography is titled, began in New York, where he grew up and got a degree in geology.

He was also a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at college, and after graduating in June 1958, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army and assigned to West Germany.

Powell served in Vietnam twice, once as one of President John F. Kennedy’s hundreds of military advisors in 1962-63 and again in 1968-69 to investigate the My Lai tragedy.

He was awarded the Purple Heart, but he was criticised for the tone of his investigation investigating the hundreds of deaths at My Lai, which appeared to discount any allegations of misconduct.

From 1989 to 1993, he swiftly ascended through the ranks of the national security establishment, serving as national security advisor to Ronald Reagan and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Powell readily stated that his liberal social beliefs made him an odd bedfellow for many Republicans, despite the party’s eagerness to hold him up as an example of its inclusiveness.

Since 2008, however, he has backed Democrats for president, twice supporting Barack Obama, then Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

Powell received a number of civilian awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from both Bush Senior and Clinton on two occasions.

Alma was his wife when he married her in 1962. Michael, Linda, and Annemarie were their three children.