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DENVER (KDVR) – Local politicians are sharing their thoughts about Colin Powell’s legacy. General Powell’s family said in a statement that the 84-year-old passed from COVID-19 complications.

Powell was a retired four-star general, and the first Black secretary of state serving from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush.

Former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell considered Powell a friend.

“He is a great loss to me and many of his friends personally, but he is a great loss to this nation, and I’d like to  think that the example he set is, and will be, followed by thousands, if not millions of youngsters of color now who see a person like Colin Powell have achieved everything through his own demeaner, his own actions, and his own perseverance. If he can do it, they can do it too,” Nighthorse Campbell said.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said he never met Colin Powell, but always wishes that he had.

“Colin Powell allowed for all of us to see ourselves through his successes, his journey as first African American secretary of state and the way in which he carried himself with such dignity, and also of course with his decades of military service to our country,” Hancock said.