Deeply saddened: George W Bush on ‘great public servant’ Colin Powell

Former Republican President George W. Bush released a statement in reaction to the death of his former Secretary of State Colin Powell. He said that Powell was “highly respected at home and abroad” and he was “deeply saddened” by his death.

“Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of Colin Powell. He was a great public servant, starting with his time as a soldier during Vietnam. Many Presidents relied on General Powell’s counsel and experience. He was National Security Adviser under President Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under my father and President Clinton, and Secretary of State during my Administration, Bush said. 

“He was such a favorite of Presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom – twice. He was highly respected at home and abroad.  And most important, Colin was a family man and a friend. Laura and I send Alma and their children our sincere condolences as they remember the life of a great man,” Bush concluded. 

The first Black US secretary of state, Colin Powell, died from COVID-19 related complications at the age of 84, his family announced on Facebook. 

The announcement read, “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. We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment. We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American.”

While he was a part of the Republican administration, he later helped to elect Democrats to the White House before Barack Obama was elected as the first Black president with Powell’s endorsement in the final weeks of the 2008 campaign. He had grown disillusioned with Republican’ rightward approach.