First Black US secretary of state Colin Powell dies aged 84

Colin Powell, a U.S. war hero and the first Black secretary of state who saw his trailblazing legacy tarnished when he made the case for war in Iraq in 2003, died on Oct. 18 from complications from COVID-19.

The 84-year-old retired four-star general was fully vaccinated, his family said in a statement, making him one of the most high-profile U.S. public figures to die of a breakthrough infection.

President Joe Biden led an outpouring of tributes from home and abroad, describing the officer-turned-statesman, who had battled cancer and was reportedly immunocompromised, as a breaker of racial barriers who believed in "the promise of America."

"Colin embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat," said Biden, who ordered flags flown at half-staff at federal government properties.

"He was committed to our nation's strength and security above all."

After engineering military victory in the 1991 Gulf War, Powell was so widely popular and respected that he was considered a strong candidate to become the first Black U.S. president.

He ultimately decided against running for the White House, although he later broke with his Republican Party to endorse Barack Obama.

A son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell frequently shattered glass ceilings in a career that took him from combat in Vietnam to becoming America's first Black national security advisor under Ronald Reagan.

He was also the youngest and first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush.

Serving four presidents, Powell made his reputation as a man of honor distant from the political fray - an asset in the corridors of power.

There were glowing tributes from all living ex-presidents...