Colin Powell's Life in Photos

On Oct. 18, 2021, news broke that Powell died of COVID-related complications. He was 84 years old.

Multiple outlets including CNN and The New York Times reported that Powell had privately been battling multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.

"General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning due to complications from Covid 19," a statement on the Powell family wrote in a statement on his Facebook page, noting that "he was fully vaccinated."

Continued the statement, "We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment. We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American."

Upon his death, George W. Bush remembered Powell as a "great public servant," saying in a statement, "He was such a favorite of Presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom — twice. He was highly respected at home and abroad. And most important, Colin was a family man and a friend. Laura and I send Alma and their children our sincere condolences as they remember the life of a great man."