The 84-year-old, whose leadership in several Republican administrations helped shape American foreign policy in the last years of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, died on Monday morning.
The family wrote on Facebook, “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.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather, and a great American,”
Powell who served under Republican President George W Bush became the first African-American secretary of state in 2001.