Former Secretary of State Colin Powell died from COVID-19 complications at the age of 84. Powell was the first African-American Secretary of State and served from 2001 to 2005. 

Powell was born on April 5, 1937 in Harlem, New York. Powell went to the City College of New York where he joined the school’s ROTC program, which began his 35 year military career. 

After graduating in 1958, Powell was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. In 1962, he was sent to fight in the Vietnam War under the Kennedy administration. After his time in the Army, Powell was the U.S. national security advisor for President Reagan in the 1980s. 

Powell famously delivered a speech in 2003 to the United Nations Security Council, where he argued in favor of invading Iraq. He stated that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. United States troops launched an invasion a month later. The evidence he gave about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction would later be proven incorrect. 

After Powell’s death, it was reported that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is a type of cancer. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, as well as their three children.