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COLIN Powell, the first black U.S. secretary of state, has died as a result of Covid-19. The Powell family announced his death in a Facebook post Monday
General and first Secretary of State of color
“General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning from complications of Covid 19,” Powell’s family wrote.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family said, noting that he was fully vaccinated.
The Powell family confirmed that the former U.S. secretary of state died at Walter Reed National Medical Center, where he was receiving treatment.
Most powerful African-American
Before Barack Obama was elected president, Powell and his successor Condoleezza Rice were the highest-ranking African-Americans in the history of the federal executive branch.
The retired four-star general became the first black national security adviser at the end of Ronald Reagan’s presidency,
He was also the youngest and first African-American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush.
After leaving the Bush administration, Powell returned to private life.
Later in the private sector
In 2005, he joined the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, where he served as a strategic adviser until his death.
During his time in public service, Powell mostly supported Democratic presidential candidates and heavily criticized top Republican politicians.
Openly opposed to Trump
Powell voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 rather than Donald Trump, whom he strongly condemned as a “national disgrace and international pariah.”
He also snubbed Trump in 2020 during the president’s second campaign, announcing his support for Joe Biden in June of that year while sharply criticizing Trump’s presidency.
“We have a Constitution. And we have to follow that Constitution. And the president has walked away from that,” he told CNN, adding that he “cannot support President Trump in any way this year.”
Powell is survived by his wife, Alma Vivian Powell, whom he married in 1962, and three children, Linda, Annemarie and Michael.