President of the United States, Joe Biden, has mourned the first Black secretary of state Colin Powell who died on Monday.

Powell who was fully vaccinated, according to his family, died of complications from Covid-19 at the age of 84.

CNN quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying that Powell had multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses the body’s immune response. Even if fully vaccinated against Covid-19, those who are immunocompromised are at greater risk from the virus.

However, Biden has hailed the hero Colin Powell in his condolence message on Modnay.

The US president, according to APF, hailed Powell for embodying “the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat” after his death on Monday.

“Having fought in wars, he understood better than anyone that military might alone was not enough to maintain our peace and prosperity,” Biden said.

While announcing his death, Powell’s family thanked the staff of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near Washington who treated the American icon.

Powell was one of America’s most prominent Black figures for decades. He served three Republican presidents in senior posts and reached the top of the US military as it was regaining its vigour after the trauma of the Vietnam War.

He was the top US general when US-led forces drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991 and the chief US diplomat when the United States relied on erroneous intelligence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify its 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to RTE.