Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has died aged 84 of Covid-19 complications, his family has announced.
He was a former top military officer who rose to become the first African-American secretary of state in 2001 under Republican George W Bush.
"We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American," a statement said. "We want to thank the medical staff... for their caring treatment."
The statement said that he had been fully vaccinated against Covid, BBC reported.
Powell became a trusted military adviser to a number of leading US politicians. He also saw service and was wounded in Vietnam, an experience that later helped define his own military and political strategies.
