US President Biden's Colin Powell tribute: 'Had highest qualities of warrior & diplomat'

On the death of former Secretary of State and combat hero Colin Powell on Monday, US President Joe Biden praised him for embracing the highest qualities of both a warrior and a diplomat. Biden further remarked, Powell, who died at 84 on Monday, had fought in wars, he always understood that with the military alone we cannot achieve peace and prosperity. 

Biden remembered the former military and statesman as a patriot of unsurpassed respect and dignity and said that he believed in the potential of America because he lived the values of the country. President Biden further added that Colin Powell dedicated much of his life to make the lives of Americans better. Though Powell was a Republican, he began supporting Democrats for President in 2008, first supporting Barack Obama twice, then Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

Biden went on to add that Powell always placed country above himself, before the party, before everything, and it had made him win the respect of the American people. President Biden, who had also served in the US Senate for more than three decades, had many conversations with Powell over the years.

First Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell Dies at 84

Former Joint Chiefs chairman and secretary of state, Colin Powell, died from COVID-related complications on Monday morning. As per his family's statement, Powell had been fully vaccinated and was receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Maryland.

Notably, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was 84 and had last breathed at Walter Reed National Medical Center. "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. He was fully vaccinated," the family statement read.

Powell, who was born in Harlem, New York, to Jamaican immigrants on April 5, 1937, attended school at the City College of New York, where he participated in Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). Notably, the ROTC is a reputed group of college- and university-based officer training programs that profers training to commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. There also, the meritorious Powell attained the top rank offered by the corps, cadet colonel.

(With inputs from agencies)

Image: AP