US soldier-diplomat Colin L. Powell was honoured on Friday at Washington National Cathedral following his death on October 18. Powell was a patriotic statesman who rose from humble Bronx beginnings to become the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and later served as the first Black secretary of state.

The funeral drew dignitaries and friends from across a wide political and military spectrum, including former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, former secretary of states James Baker, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Army Gen. Mark Milley, as well as other service chiefs.

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Although President Joe Biden was present, he was not planned to speak. Bill Clinton, who is recuperating from an ailment, and Donald Trump, whom Powell had chastised, were both unable to attend.

At the funeral, the US Army Brass Quintet played a range of tunes, including “Dancing Queen” by Abba, a favourite of Powell’s.

Meanwhile, former FCC chair Michael Powell, Powell’s son, said in a moving tribute to his father, “The example of Colin Powell does not call on us to emulate his resume, which is too formidable for mere mortals. It is to emulate his character and his example as a human being. We can strive to do that. We can choose to be good.”

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Powell died of complications from COVID-19 at age 84. He had been vaccinated against the coronavirus, but his family said his immune system had been compromised by multiple myeloma, a blood cancer for which he had been undergoing treatment.

Powell was a “favourite” of presidents, serving in multiple key positions in Republican administrations, most notably in the younger Bush’s.

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Powell was also former President Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser and former President George H. W. Bush’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the first African-American man to hold such positions in US history.

When President George W. Bush appointed him as the 65th Secretary of State, he broke new ground once more. Powell became the first Black US secretary of state and the country’s highest-ranking Black public official when he was sworn in in 2001, ranking fourth in the presidential line of succession.