Dick Cheney, a giant of Republican politics who was considered one of the most powerful vice presidents in US history, has died, his family announced early Tuesday. He was 84.
Cheney, who served two terms as vice president under former President George W. Bush — including during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks — died overnight “due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease,” his family said in a statement.
“His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” the Cheneys said.
“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing,” his family added.
“We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”
Cheney suffered heart problems most of his life from heart problems, surviving the first of five heart attacks at age 37. He had a heart transplant in 2012.
Cheney, a hard-charging conservative, was one of the most polarizing and most influential vice presidents in US history. He was also widely considered to be one of the chief architects of the Iraq War.
The former Wyoming lawmaker served both the late President George H.W. Bush and his son President George W. Bush.
In a statement Tuesday, Bush called Cheney’s death a “loss to the nation and a sorrow to his friends.”
“Laura and I will remember Dick Cheney for the decent, honorable man that he was,” the former president added. “History will remember him as among the finest public servants of his generation – a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held.”
Cheney was defense secretary during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush, and returned to public life as the younger Bush’s vice president from 2001 to 2009.
Cheney strongly advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq – suggesting there were links between Iraq, al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 attacks.
Cheney was steadfast in later years that the invasion was the right decision based on the intelligence at the time and the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein despite the fact that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found.
Famously, Cheney had split with Bush on gay marriage — a hot-button social issue in the early 2000s — disagreeing with the 43rd president’s call for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Cheney’s younger daughter, Mary, is a lesbian and he argued that the issue should be addressed at the state level.
Liz Cheney followed her father into politics, becoming a controversial Wyoming congresswoman, who opposed same sex marriage but later reversed course after a long-standing feud with her sister.
During the Bush administration, Democrats made Cheney into a boogeyman due to his hawkish views. Some lefty critics seized on his deep voice and pilloried him as a “Darth Vader” figure for being one of the driving forces of the Bush administration’s foreign ventures.
Comedy writer Adam McKay wrote the movie “Vice,” which was released in 2018, bashing Cheney’s influence in the Bush administration. Actor Christian Bale portrayed Cheney in the film.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney moved as a boy to Wyoming with his family before attending Yale University and later dropping out.
Cheney went to Washington in 1969 as a congressional intern and held various White House jobs during the Republican administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
During the 10 years he served as Wyoming’s only congressman, Cheney had a highly conservative record and rose through the ranks to serve as chair of the House Republican Caucus before a very brief stint as House minority whip prior to landing the Secretary of Defense role in 1989.
Cheney also served as CEO of Halliburton, the second-largest oil service company in the world from 1995 to 2000 before he was tapped as the younger Bush’s vice presidential candidate.
Following his exit from politics, Cheney’s daughter similarly became the House Republican caucus chair — the third-highest-ranking GOPer in the lower chamber at the time because her party was in the minority — before getting pushed aside due to her turn against President Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Trump had been an outspoken critic of Cheney, bashing the former vice president as a war hawk and neoconservative who got the US ensnared in quagmires abroad.
Cheney stood by his daughter as she faced a revolt from Republicans due to her criticism of Trump and service on the since-defunct House Select Jan. 6 Committee.
The 46th vice president famously appeared on Capitol Hill with his daughter on the one-year anniversary of the storming of the Capitol building.
Later that year, in 2022, Cheney cut a scathing ad in defense of his daughter, ripping Trump as a “coward,” while hoping to give her a boost in her competitive reelection bid for Wyoming’s sole House seat. Ultimately, Liz lost to Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.)
During the 2024 election cycle, Cheney came out in support of former Vice President Kamala Harris, chalking his stance up to a defense of the Constitution.
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” he said in a statement in September of last year. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”
“As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution,” he added. “That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
New York Post
