President George W. Bush is remembering Colin Powell, who served as his secretary of state during his first term. Powell, 84, died Monday at Walter Reed National Medical Center due to COVID-19 related complications, his family said. They also noted he was fully vaccinated against the virus.
In a statement from the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Bush said that he and his wife Laura were "deeply saddened" by the general's death.
"He was a great public servant, starting with his time as a soldier during Vietnam. Many Presidents relied on General Powell's counsel and experience," Bush said.
Powell joined the military in college and served in the Army during the Vietnam War. He rose through the ranks to eventually become a general following his time as National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan in the late 1980s.
Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton selected him as their chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 2001, Powell became the junior Bush's secretary of state. He was the first African American to be named to that post.
"He was such a favorite of presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom — twice. He was highly respected at home and abroad," Bush said in the statement. But more importantly, Bush said, Powell was "a family man and a friend."
Colin Powell made the case of invasion of Iraq
During his time as secretary of state, Powell oversaw U.S. diplomacy in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as well as the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.
In 2003, he justified the U.S. military's entry into Iraq before the United Nations when he said that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
No such weapons were ever uncovered during the United States military's years in the country.
Powell is survived by three children, two grandchildren and his wife, Alma.
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