The big picture: In addition to serving as secretary of state from 2001-05, he also was the first Black security adviser to a president when he served for President Reagan and was the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for President George H.W. Bush.
Powell was fully vaccinated but had undergone treatment for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that can weaken the immune system, a spokesperson said.
In photos:
Colin Powell, then-national security adviser, addresses the press at the Rose Garden with outgoing Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, President Ronald Reagan and incoming Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci in November of 1987. Powell was the first Black person to serve as national security adviser. Photo: Diana Walker/Getty ImagesPowell, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed reporters at the Pentagon in December of 1989, as then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney looks on. The briefing was about the military operation to remove Panama's General Manuel Antonio Noriega from power. Photo: Bob Pearson/AFP via Getty ImagesPowell, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on a phone visit with troops in Saudi Arabia in December of 1990. Photo: Department of Defense/Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesPowell, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arriving at the White House to attend a state dinner with his wife, Alma, in February of 1991. He is survived by Alma and his three children. Photo: Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesPresident George H.W. Bush awards Powell the Presidential Medal of Freedom. First lady Barbara Bush fastens the medal around Powell. He would go on to receive the award again with distinction in 1993. Photo: Howard L. Sachs/CNP/Getty ImagesPowell with Diana, the Princess of Wales, and Henry Kissinger at a Cerebral Palsy dinner in New York in 1995. Photo: John Stillwell - PA Images/PA Images via Getty ImagesPowell attends one of his very first Cabinet meetings as secretary of state with President George W. Bush in 2001. Powell would serve as secretary of state from 2001-05. Photo by Mark Wilson/Pool via CNP/Getty ImagesPowell, then-secretary of state, addresses the United Nations on Feb. 14, 2003. He testified in favor of a military invasion of Iraq but later referred to the speech as a "blot" on his record, per CNN. Photo: Shawn Baldwin/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThough he worked in several Republican administrations, Powell endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president on an episode of "Meet the Press" in 2008. The endorsement boosted Obama's candidacy. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images for "Meet The Press"Powell meets with then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden. He endorsed President Obama in 2008 and President Biden in 2020. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty ImagesPowell on stage during the Capital Concerts' "National Memorial Day Concert" in May. Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Capital Concerts
