Colin Powell Dead at 84 From COVID-19 Complications

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell died Monday morning due to complications from COVID-19, his family announced in a statement. He was 84.

His family said in a statement the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was fully vaccinated and had been receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center.

“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 family statement said. “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.”

Powell was a four-star general who was the secretary of state under President George W. Bush, the first African American to serve in the job. He also was the national security advisor and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

Powell was born in New York City, the son of Jamaican immigrants.

Probably the most controversial moment of his career came before the United Nations in 2003 when he argued the case for invading Iraq to stop a weapons program. The program did not exist.

Powell later told PBS’ “Frontline” that the speech was a “blot” on his record.

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