Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has died at 84.
Powell died on Monday morning of complications from COVID-19. He was fully vaccinated, according to a statement from his family.
“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. 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, ” the Powell family wrote on Facebook.
Powell become the first Black national security adviser during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Under President George H.W. Bush’s administration, he became the youngest and first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Powell had multiple myeloma, a cancer of a type of white blood cell, according to NBC News. It’s unclear what complications he experienced from Covid-19 or when he tested positive for the disease. The family also did not say when he was vaccinated or if he had received a booster shot, NBC noted.
