The Cheney family announced his passing, remembering him as a devoted husband, father, and patriot.
Dick Cheney, who served as vice president under George W. Bush and was a driving force behind the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, has died at 84, his family announced on Nov. 4.
Cheney died Monday night from complications of pneumonia and heart and vascular disease, according to a family statement. He battled heart disease for much of his life, suffering his first heart attack at 37 and receiving a heart transplant in 2012.
A former Wyoming congressman and defense secretary, Cheney was already a powerful Washington insider when Bush chose him as his running mate in 2000. As vice president from 2001 to 2009, he pushed to expand presidential authority and made the vice presidency one of the most influential offices in modern history.
Cheney was a leading advocate for invading Iraq, arguing that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction—claims later disproved. To many, Cheney symbolized how America’s response to the 9/11 terror attack—shaped by faulty intelligence—turned Iraq from a rapid conquest into a grinding, bloody war.
Until his death, Cheney stood by his record, saying he did what was necessary after the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 2,800 people and set off two decades of divisive wars.
“It was the right thing to do then,” Cheney told CNN in 2015 regarding the Iraq invasion.
“I believed it then, and I believe it now.”
His daughter Liz Cheney followed him into politics, serving in Congress until she lost her seat after voting to impeach President Donald Trump. Cheney supported her stance and later said he would vote for the Democratic presidential candidate—then-Vice President Kamala Harris— in 2024, calling Trump “a greater threat to our republic” than any other individual in U.S. history.
Before his vice presidency, Cheney served as defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush, overseeing the 1991 Gulf War. As vice president, his influence and unapologetic hawkishness earned him both admiration and criticism—and even the nickname “Darth Vader,” which he once jokingly embraced.
Cheney is survived by his wife of 61 years, Lynne, and their daughters, Liz and Mary.
By Tom Ozimek
