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Gen. Colin Powell testifies before a Senate committee on his appointment as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sept. 20, 1993.

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From soldier to statesman: Colin Powell's life in pictures

After rising through the military ranks, the retired four-star general became the first Black secretary of state and was a key figure in the Iraq War.

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Image: U.S. Lieutenant General Colin Powell, commander of the 5th U.S. corps, salutes while his wife Alma looks on during a farewell ceremony in Frankfurt, Germany.

Lt. Gen. Colin Powell, commander of the 5th U.S. corps, with his wife, Alma, at a farewell ceremony in Frankfurt, Germany, on Dec. 30, 1986. 

Powell, who served Democratic and Republican presidents in war and peace but whose sterling reputation was forever stained when he went before the U.N. and made faulty claims to justify the U.S. war in Iraq, died of Covid-19 complications on Oct. 18, 2021. He was 84.

— Udo Weitz / AP
Casper Weinberger, Colin Powell

Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger confers with Army Maj. Gen. Colin Powell during testimony before the Senate Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on Feb. 8, 1985.

— J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Gen. Colin Powell testifies before a Senate committee on his appointment as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sept. 20, 1993.

Gen. Colin Powell testifies before a Senate committee on his appointment as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sept. 20, 1993.

— Howard Sachs / Getty Images
Gen. Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, points to a group of American troops at an airbase after his arrival in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 13, 1990.

Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visiting American troops at an airbase in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 13, 1990.

— J.Scott Applewhite / AP
Powell uses the head of Air Force Sgt. Thaddeus Fernandez of Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas as a writing desk to autograph a Saudi riyal during a visit to an air base in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 21, 1990.

Powell uses the head of Air Force Sgt. Thaddeus Fernandez as an impromptu desk to autograph a Saudi riyal during a visit to an airbase in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 21, 1990.

— Bob Daugherty / AP file
Colin Powell, Dick Cheney

Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney confers with Gen. Colin Powell, the chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, prior to testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 21, 1991.

— John Duricka / AP
General Powell Presented With Presidential Medal Of Freedom

First lady Barbara Bush fastens the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Gen. Colin Powell on July 3, 1991, as President George H.W. Bush looks on.

— Howard L. Sachs / Getty Images
Gen. Colin Powell speaks at the Republican National Convention on Aug. 12, 1996, in San Diego.

Retired Gen. Colin Powell speaks at the Republican National Convention on Aug. 12, 1996, in San Diego.

— David Longstreath / AP
Secretary of State Colin Powell looks on as President Bush addresses State Department employees on Feb. 15, 2001.

Colin Powell, in February 2001. The month before, he was sworn in as the nation's first Black secretary of state. 

— Kenneth Lambert / AP
Image: Colin Powell, former US secretary of state, dies aged 84 Bush Administration Reacts To Attacks On 9/11

Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the President's Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

— David Bohrer / U.S. National Archives via Getty Images
BUSH RUMSFELD POWELL

President George W. Bush, with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, at the signing of the resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq on Oct. 16, 2002. Bush summoned dozens of lawmakers to the White House, hoping that a tableau of a unified America would help win over hesitant allies.

— Ron Edmonds / AP
Secretary of State Colin Powell

Secretary of State Colin Powell holds up a vial he said could contain anthrax as he presents evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons programs to the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003. Powell made the case for U.S. war against Iraq, citing faulty information claiming Saddam Hussein had secretly stashed away weapons of mass destruction. 

— Elise Amendola / AP
President Bush Meets With Afghan President Karzai

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, on June 15, 2004.

— Mark Wilson / Getty Images
President Barack Obama speaks with former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell in the Oval Office on Dec. 1, 2010.

President Barack Obama speaks with Powell in the Oval Office on Dec. 1, 2010.

Powell rose to national prominence under Republican presidents and considered a presidential bid of his own, but ultimately moved away from the party. He endorsed Democrats in the last four presidential elections, starting with Obama.

— Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images
Reception for the U.S. Diplomacy Center Pavilion with Clinton, Kerry, Powell, and Albright

Former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Madeline Albright arrive for a reception celebrating the completion of the U.S. Diplomacy Center Pavilion at the Department of State on Jan. 10, 2017.

— Samuel Corum / Anadolu via Getty Images
Image: FILES-US-military-Powell-health-POLITICS

Colin Powell pays his respects to former President George H.W. Bush, at the Capitol rotunda on Dec. 4, 2018.

Read the full story: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell dies from Covid complications

— Alex Edelman / AFP - Getty Images
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