Former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell dies of complications from COVID-19
CBC
Colin Powell, a former U.S. secretary of state and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, died of complications from COVID-19 on Monday, according to his Facebook page. He was 84.
In the post, his family said Powell had been fully vaccinated and was receiving care at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
In a long military career that included service in the Vietnam War, Powell rose to public prominence by serving as national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan beginning in 1987, two years later becoming the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the latter role he oversaw the U.S. invasion of Panama and later the U.S. invasion of Kuwait to oust the Iraqi army in 1991.
Powell, who resisted calls to run for president himself later that decade, would go on to be nominated by president George W. Bush to serve as secretary of state in 2001. Powell was the first African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state.
Bush called him a "great public servant" in a statement mourning his death.
"He was such a favourite of presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom — twice," said Bush.
Powell famously represented the administration at the United Nations, arguing that U.S. intelligence had confirmed Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction, which was ultimately proven to be incorrect.
