Copyright independent
Dick Cheney, regarded by many as the most influential vice president in modern American history, has died at the age of 84, his family said in a statement. Cheney, who served as vice president under President George W. Bush, passed away on November 3. He was 84 years old. He had been suffering from pneumonia as well as cardiac and vascular disease. “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. 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,” the press release read in part. Cheney had battled with cardiovascular disease for much of his life and survived a series of severe heart attacks. In 2012, he underwent a heart transplant, which he later described as “the gift of life itself.” During his career, the Wyoming native served in three Republican administrations, first as Gerald Ford’s chief of staff, then as George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense, before becoming Vice President in the aftermath of the bitter 2000 presidential election. In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Cheney told CNN’s John King that he became a changed man after the second plane hit the World Trade Center. “At that moment, you knew this was a deliberate act,” he told King. “This was a terrorist act.” Cheney went on to play a vital role in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, alleging that the country had launched a program to create weapons of mass destruction. The administration pushed the notion that the then-Iraqi government under the leadership of dictator Saddam Hussein had ties to Al-Qaeda, which had carried out 9/11. Despite being regarded as a hugely influential figure in the administration, Cheney’s advocacy for the invasion of Iraq also made him one of the most polarising figures of the time. He left office with an approval rating of 31 percent, according to the Pew Research Center, primarily due to his role in the 2003 war. In 2014, he told the Senate Intelligence Committee that “I would do it again in a minute,” referring to the invasion. Cheney is survived by his wife, daughters, Liz and Mary Cheney, both of whom followed in their father's footsteps into politics. Both of his daughters have served as members of the Republican Party, although Liz Cheney campaigned for former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election. Despite rarely being seen in public in his later years, Cheney appeared in one of his daughter’s political ads in 2022. “In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in the commercial. “He is a coward,” Cheney added. “A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.” According to his daughter, Cheney went on to endorse Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election, saying that Trump could “never be trusted with power again.” In 2024, John Bolton, former national security adviser to Trump and UN ambassador during the Bush administration, said that he would write in Cheney rather than vote Democrat. In 2018, Cheney’s life and ascent to power were detailed in the Adam McKay movie Vice, with Christian Bale assuming the title role in an Academy Award-nominated performance.
