Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell died on Monday from complications of COVID-19, his family said in a Facebook post.

Powell, 84, had been receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center and was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, his family wrote. Powell had multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that greatly diminishes the bodys immune response, NBC News and CNN reported.

We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American, his family said.

Powell was the first Black U.S. secretary of state when he was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001. His false claims about then-Iraqi leader Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction helped justify Bushs invasion in 2003.