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Colin Powell, military leader and first Black US secretary of state, dies after complications from Covid-19 - CNN

Colin Powell, military leader and first Black US secretary of state, dies after complications from Covid-19 - CNN

Colin Powell, military leader and first Black US secretary of state, dies after complications from Covid-19 - CNN
Oct 18, 2021 3 mins, 43 secs

Bush said in a statement Monday that Powell was "a great public servant" who was "such a favorite of Presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- twice.

And most important, Colin was a family man and a friend."

Though Powell never mounted a White House bid, when he was sworn in as Bush's secretary of state in 2001, he became the highest-ranking Black public official to date in the country, standing fourth in the presidential line of succession.

"It shows to the world that: Follow our model, and over a period of time from our beginning, if you believe in the values that espouse, you can see things as miraculous as me sitting before you to receive your approval."

The Point: The Colin Powell Republican no longer exists in the Republican Party

Later in his public life, Powell would grow disillusioned with the Republican Party's rightward lurch and would use his political capital to help elect Democrats to the White House, most notably Barack Obama, the first Black president whom Powell endorsed in the final weeks of the 2008 campaign.

Leaders mourn a 'trailblazer and role model'

Powell's death was met with an outpouring of grief from former and current leaders, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served alongside Powell under Bush.

"I'm deeply saddened to learn that America has lost a leader and statesman.

General Powell had a remarkably distinguished career, and I was fortunate to work with him," Cheney said in a statement, adding that Powell was a "trailblazer and role model."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in remarks on Monday that in Powell he "lost a tremendous personal friend and mentor."

"He always made time for me and I could always go to him with tough issues.

Martin Dempsey, who served for a time as Obama's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also mourned the loss of Powell, writing in a tweet on Monday that he was "A superb soldier, statesman, and lifelong public servant."

And former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was in office while Powell served in the Bush administration, called Powell "a towering figure in American military and political leadership," adding in a statement that he "inspired loyalty and respect."

Professional soldier

Colin Luther Powell was born April 5, 1937, in Harlem, New York, to Jamaican immigrants.

"I liked the structure and the discipline of the military," Powell said, according to a CNN profile of him in the early 2000s.

As the elder Bush presented Powell with the award at a White House ceremony in 1991, he said the general's "deep compassion for every one of the thousands of men and women under (his) command will always be remembered."

During Powell's time in the military, which lasted until 1993, he also received a number of other notable awards, including the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

In addition to the military awards, Powell also received the President's Citizens Medal, the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal, and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal, as well as a second Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded with distinction, from President Bill Clinton.

Top diplomat during turbulent time

With a prominent national profile, Powell was floated as a potential presidential candidate in the 1996 election.

Bush, delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention in which he argued that the then-governor of Texas would "help bridge our racial divides."

He was Bush's first Cabinet selection when he was announced as the 43rd President's nomination for secretary of state, and with his expertise in foreign policy and widespread popularity, he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

At the time, he touted Obama's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign," while criticizing attacks on the Illinois senator by Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign as "inappropriate." He was later named an honorary co-chair of Obama's inauguration and endorsed him again in 2012.

Powell went on to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Donald Trump, whom he had strongly condemned as a "national disgrace and an international pariah."

In an extraordinary move that year, three presidential electors in Washington state cast votes for Powell rather than Clinton, resulting in state fines that were later upheld by the Supreme Court.

And after Trump incited a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol in early January 2021, Powell told CNN that he no longer considered himself a Republican, with the longtime grandee of the GOP saying he was now simply watching events unfold in a country he long served.

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