Bethesda, Maryland – General Colin Powell, the son of Jamaican immigrants who rose to the highest ranks of the US military, has died, leaving behind a complicated legacy.

Powell died at 84 of complications from Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated, his family announced Monday.

He served as the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also became the first Black secretary of state.

"We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American," Powell’s family said in post on Facebook.

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Powell became perhaps the most recognizable and popular military figures in the country during his leadership of the military during the first Gulf War.

He faced disgrace while serving as secretary of state under President George W. Bush after he appeared before the UN Security Council in 2003 to justify the US invasion of Iraq, making false claims that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction.

Powell later insisted he was operating on a "great intelligence failure," but other sources have said he knowingly participated in a misinformation campaign to get the public behind the war effort.

There were no immediate details on the exact complications that caused his death or whether and where he had been hospitalized.