Pat Stevens/
The first Black US secretary of state, Colin Powell, died today at the age of 84 due to complications from COVID-19.
He was fully vaccinated, his family said in a statement on Facebook.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the statement reads.
Powell was also the first Black national security adviser during the end of Ronald Reagan’s presidency and the youngest and first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush.
His national popularity soared in the aftermath of the US-led coalition victory during the Gulf War, and for a time in the mid-90s, he was considered a leading contender to become the first Black President of the United States.
When he was sworn in as Bush’s secretary of state in 2001, he became the highest-ranking Black public official in the country, standing fourth in the presidential line of succession.
Powell is survived by his wife, Alma Vivian (Johnson) Powell, whom he married in 1962, as well as three children.
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