WASHINGTON: Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state who saw his legacy tarnished when he made the case for war in Iraq in 2003, died Monday from complications from Covid-19.
The 84-year-old retired four-star general was fully vaccinated, his family said in a statement on Facebook, making him one of the most high-profile US public figures to die of a breakthrough infection.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family said.
After engineering military victory in the 1991 Gulf War, Powell was so widely popular and respected that he was considered a strong candidate to become the first ever Black US president.
He ultimately decided against running for the White House, although he later broke with his Republican party to endorse Barack Obama.
