Dick Cheney, America’s Steely Power Broker, Dies at 84
Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the most influential and controversial figures in modern American politics, has died at the age of 84. His family confirmed that he passed away on Monday night from complications of pneumonia, as well as cardiac and vascular disease. Surrounded by his wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary, Cheney’s final moments were spent with the people closest to him.
In a heartfelt statement, the family described Cheney as “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.” They expressed their deep gratitude for his decades of public service, calling him “a noble giant of a man.”
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Cheney’s political journey was both remarkable and divisive. Starting his career under President Richard Nixon, he rose quickly through the ranks of Washington’s power structure. By the mid-1970s, he had become the youngest ever White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford. He later served as a Wyoming congressman, then as Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush, where he oversaw the swift U.S. military campaign during the first Gulf War.
But it was during his tenure as Vice President under George W. Bush, from 2001 to 2009, that Cheney’s influence reached its peak. After the September 11 attacks, he emerged as one of the chief architects of the “War on Terror,” shaping U.S. foreign policy in ways that would define a generation. His steadfast advocacy for the invasion of Iraq in 2003—based on disputed intelligence about weapons of mass destruction—cemented his reputation as a hawkish strategist who prized national security above all else.
Critics accused him of pushing policies that expanded executive power and sanctioned controversial interrogation methods. Yet, supporters saw him as a man of resolve, unflinching in his belief that America had to act decisively to defend itself. Cheney himself remained unapologetic, often saying he would “do it all again.”
In his later years, Cheney became an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, calling the former president “the greatest threat to our republic.” His daughter, Liz Cheney, would later follow in his footsteps, breaking with her party to oppose Trump’s influence. In an unexpected twist, the lifelong conservative even endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president in 2024—an act that underscored his alienation from the modern Republican Party.
A man who endured multiple heart attacks and even received a heart transplant in 2012, Cheney often joked about living on borrowed time. Yet he remained active and opinionated until the end. Love him or loathe him, Dick Cheney’s imprint on American politics—shaped by ambition, power, and conviction—will be studied and debated for decades to come.
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