“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, and grandfather, and a great American,” they said in a statement posted on social media, adding that he was “fully vaccinated.”

Colin Powell died at Walter Reed Hospital, located in suburban Washington, where US presidents are often treated.

Mr. Powell was the first African-American to hold the post of chief of staff for the armed forces, before becoming chief American diplomat under the Republican presidency of George W. Bush.

Advocate of the war in Iraq, Mr. Powell had made on February 5, 2003, before the Security Council of the United Nations, a long speech on the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) allegedly held by Iraq, arguments which have served to justify the invasion of the country.

He later admitted that this performance was a “stain” on his reputation: “It is a stain because I am the one who made this presentation on behalf of the United States to the world, and it will always be part of it. my record. “

Born April 5, 1937 in Harlem, Colin Powell grew up in New York City, where he studied geology.

He had started his military career in 1958. First stationed in Germany, he was then sent to Vietnam as military adviser to John F. Kennedy.