Gen. Colin Powell: 1937-2021

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U.S. Lieutenant General Colin L. Powell, commander of the 5th U.S. corps, salutes while his wife Alma V. (left) stands in attention during farewell ceremony at the headquarters in Frankfurt on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1986. Powell returns to Washington to become deputy assistant for national security affairs.

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Lt. Gen. Colin Powell is shown at a White House ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 5, 1987 in Washington.

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Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger confers Army Maj. Gen. Colin Powell during testimony before the Senate Budget Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Feb. 8, 1985.

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U.S. President George Bush talks with reporters aftar a meeting with his advisors on the Middle East situation at his Kennebunkport home, Maine, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 1990. Standing at left is Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, and at right is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin

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Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is shown in a 1989 photo.

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Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, right, and Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speak to members of the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing from Myrtle Beach, S.C. at their air base in Saudi Arabia Friday, Dec. 12, 1990.

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U.S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf casts a knowing smile toward the media as he sits with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell, Sunday morning, February 10, 1991, at a military briefing. Powell and Defense Sec. Dick Cheney are finishing up a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia, where they have been assessing the Gulf War.

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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell talks with a soldier who has stomach problems while visiting the Air Transportable Hospital, a part of the 1st Tactical Hospital of Langley Air Force Base, Va., set up in an air base in Saudi Arabia, Sept. 13, 1990.

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Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shakes hands with Marine Sgt. Greg Vining, of St. Louis, Missouri during a 24-hour visit to U.S. troops in Northern Iraq May 30, 1991.

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In this photo provided by CNN, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, right, gestures as he is interviewed by talk show host Larry King on the CNN's 'Larry King Live' taped at the CNN studios in Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 17, 2005.

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This photo provided by NBC shows former Secretary of State, retired Gen. Colin Powell, speaks with host Jay Leno during the taping of ?The Tonight Show with Jay Leno? Monday, Feb. 27, 2006, in Burbank, Calif.

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President Bush, second from left, meets with present and former Secretaries of State and Defense in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006. Bush is pressing ahead with a public relations offensive on Iraq, bringing a bipartisan group of former secretaries to the White House for give-and-take on the unpopular military mission. Seated left to right are Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, right, introduces President Bush, before the president spoke at the Initiative for Global Developments 2006 National Summit on Thursday, June 15, 2006.

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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell gives the closing keynote at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin, Texas on Friday, May 5, 2006.

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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gestures as he addresses the audience at the Residence Palace in Brussels, Wednesday Dec. 8, 2004. Powell, who spoke at a convention of the German Marchall Fund will attend the two-day NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels.

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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, left, shakes hands with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal before their talks at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov.23, 2004.

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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, center, with Steve Case, left, former co-founder of AOL, depart after an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards Friday, Dec. 14, 2012 in Washington.

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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, center, flanked by former Attorney General John Ashcroft, right, and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, listen during dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Thursday, April 25, 2013.

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This photo taken Feb. 11, 2014 shows former Secretary of State Colin Powell visiting a classroom at Educare, a high quality school for young, at-risk kids partly funded by Warren Buffett, in the Kenilworth-Parkside neighborhood of Washington.

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President Barack Obama, next to White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, left, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, meets with foundation and business leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014.