Photos: Key moments in former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell's career

From serving as the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, earning the medal of freedom twice and making the case for U.S. invasion of Iraq before the United Nations, CTVNews.ca has collected a selection of images that show the long career of the late Colin Powell.

Powell, who died from COVID-19 complications at age 84, helped shape American foreign policy under several U.S. presidents including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell served during the Vietnam War and rose to the highest ranks of the national security establishment in the U.S. As the U.S. secretary of state under George W. Bush, he infamously made the case for U.S. invasion of Iraq before the U.N., using intelligence which was later revealed to be, by in large, incorrect.

Here are photographs of some of the important moments of Powell’s life.