Dick Cheney, Former Vice President, Dies at 84
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served as one of the most influential figures in modern American politics, died Monday at the age of 84. His family announced the death in a statement, saying he passed away due to “complications of pneumonia and 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,” the family said. “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’s death marks the end of an era for the Republican Party and for the conservative movement that shaped the post-9/11 world. His career spanned five decades and six presidencies, from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush.
From Lineman to Washington Power Broker
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1941, Richard Bruce Cheney’s early years offered little hint of the political influence he would later wield. The son of a government conservation worker, Cheney flunked out of Yale University and briefly worked as a lineman for a power company in Wyoming. Two drunk-driving arrests in his early twenties seemed to derail his future.
But Cheney’s life soon shifted direction. He married his high-school sweetheart, Lynne Vincent, earned degrees from the University of Wyoming, and later attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin. By the late 1960s, with the Vietnam War dominating U.S. politics, Cheney entered government service — though he personally avoided the draft, receiving five deferments that critics would later cite when he became a key architect of the Iraq War.
Rise Through the Ranks
Cheney’s political career began in 1969 as a congressional intern, and he quickly found a mentor in Donald Rumsfeld, who was then serving in the Nixon administration. Cheney’s skill in navigating Washington power structures earned him a rapid ascent. When Gerald Ford became president after Nixon’s resignation, Cheney was appointed White House Chief of Staff at just 34.
During that period, Cheney developed a political philosophy centered on strengthening the executive branch. He later lamented that post-Watergate reforms had weakened the presidency, and he would spend much of his career advocating to restore its authority.
“We’re not going to do that in this administration,” Cheney told Fox News in 2002, referring to constraints on presidential power. “The president is bound and determined to defend those principles and to pass on this office, his and mine, in better shape than we found it.”
Secretary of Defense and the Gulf War
Elected to Congress from Wyoming in 1978, Cheney served five terms before becoming Secretary of Defense under President George H. W. Bush in 1989. In that role, he oversaw Operation Desert Storm, the U.S.-led military campaign to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
The war’s swift success elevated Cheney’s stature. Still, he supported Bush’s decision not to invade Baghdad, warning that removing Saddam Hussein could create “a quagmire.” The caution he expressed in 1994 would contrast sharply with the more aggressive policies he would later champion as vice president.
The Cheney Doctrine and the Iraq War
After a stint as CEO of Halliburton, Cheney returned to public life in 2000 when George W. Bush selected him as his running mate. The choice surprised many, as Cheney had initially been tasked with leading Bush’s search for a vice-presidential candidate.
Once in office, Cheney redefined the vice presidency. He became Bush’s closest adviser and a driving force behind foreign and domestic policy. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Cheney helped shape the “War on Terror” — a doctrine that justified pre-emptive military action against perceived threats.
He was a leading proponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, insisting Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. In a 2003 interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Cheney predicted the war would be brief: “I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe we will be greeted as liberators.”
The conflict instead became one of the longest and most controversial wars in American history, tarnishing Cheney’s reputation among critics who saw him as the architect of an unnecessary and costly invasion.
His Death Marks the End of an Era in U.S. Politics
Throughout his career, Cheney cultivated a reputation for secrecy and blunt pragmatism. He resisted congressional oversight, defended surveillance programs, and supported “enhanced interrogation” tactics condemned by human rights groups.
His image as a stoic, shadowy political figure led late-night hosts to nickname him “Darth Vader.” Even President Bush once joked about Cheney’s austere demeanor, saying on Halloween that his vice president “was already wearing his costume.”
Controversies extended beyond policy. In 2006, Cheney accidentally shot attorney Harry Whittington during a quail-hunting trip in Texas, an incident that made international headlines. The story was not publicly disclosed for two days, fueling criticism of the vice president’s secretive tendencies.
Declining Health and Final Years
Cheney’s health struggles were nearly as chronicled as his political career. He suffered five heart attacks, underwent multiple bypass surgeries, and received a heart transplant in 2012. Despite these challenges, he remained active in conservative circles and defended his administration’s decisions long after leaving office.
On his final day as vice president in 2009, Cheney appeared in a wheelchair due to a back injury, watching Barack Obama’s inauguration from the Capitol steps — a stark image symbolizing the end of an era.