George W. Bush hails Powell as ‘great public servant’

By AFP 18 October 2021, 5:02 pm

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In this file photo taken on October 26, 2000, former US President and then Republican presidential candidate and Governor of Texas George W. Bush (R) and General Colin Powell (L) stand together on stage during their introduction to supporters at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (PAUL BUCK / AFP)

Former US president George W. Bush, who picked Colin Powell as his secretary of state, pays tribute to the late top diplomat and war hero as a “great” man who counseled multiple presidents.

“He was a great public servant, starting with his time as a soldier during Vietnam,” Bush says in a statement, adding that the former national security advisor and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was “highly respected at home and abroad.”

Powell died on Monday of complications from Covid-19 at age 84.