Colin Powell, who made history as the first African American to lead both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Department of State, has died from complications associated with a breakthrough case of novel coronavirus. He was 84.
“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 Powell family penned on his Facebook page. The family added that Powell was fully vaccinated.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American.”
Colin Luther Powell was born in Harlem, New York, in 1937 and was raised in the South Bronx after his parents emigrated from Jamaica. He graduated from the City College of New York with a degree in geology and entered the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer and served in the Vietnam War. Because of his exemplary service, Powell rapidly rose through the ranks to become a four-star general, diplomat and politician.
Powell was first Black national security adviser during the end of Ronald Reagan administration from 1987–89, and the youngest and first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush from 1989–1993.
His national popularity soared in the aftermath of the U.S.-led coalition victory during the Gulf War. Powell was initially considered a leading contender to become the first Black president of the United States in the early 1990s, long before Barack Obama became a viable candidate in 2008.
Later, Powell made history again when he became the 65th secretary of state under Bush’s son, President George W. Bush, from 2001–05. It was the highest-ranking position in the government — fourth in line to succeed the president — held by a Black American at that point in time.
Powell is survived by his wife, Alma Vivian (Johnson) Powell, whom he married in 1962, as well as three children.
