TOLEDO, Ohio — Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state, died Monday from COVID-19 complications. He was 84 years old.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, Powell rose to the rank of four-star general and in 1989 became the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In that role he oversaw the U.S. invasion of Panama and later the U.S. invasion of Kuwait to oust the Iraqi army in 1991.
But his legacy was marred when, in 2003, he went before the U.N. Security Council as secretary of state and made the case for U.S. war against Iraq. He cited faulty information claiming Saddam Hussein had secretly stashed away weapons of mass destruction. Iraq’s claims that it had no such weapons represented “a web of lies,” he told the world body.
Several Ohio politicians reacted to the news of Powell's death:
Gov. Mike DeWine
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo)
“Throughout his decades of military and diplomatic service, General Colin Powell was an insightful, humble leader who offered critical guidance to our nation during her most trying times. We join with all Americans in mourning his passing, and express our deepest condolences to his loved ones for their immense loss.”