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Dick Cheney, one of the most influential political figures of the last several decades and the 46th United States Vice President of the United Stated under President George W. Bush, has passed away at the age of 84.
The news was broken on Tuesday morning by the Republican’s loved ones.
“For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President of the United States,” the Cheney family said in a statement.
Dick Cheney, father of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), listens to daughter’s remarks during a primary night event August 16, 2022 in Jackson, Wyoming. Rep. Cheney conceded her loss in the Wyoming primary election. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)According to Sky News, Cheney was surrounded by many of these same family members — including wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary — when he died.
Cheney reportedly died 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. We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country,” the statement went on.
‘And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”
(Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)Cheney was a polarizing figure.
Many believe he was effectively served as the chief operating officer behind the younger Bush’s Presidency, acting as the leading advocate for entering into a war with Iraq after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
He consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance, detention and inquisition employed in response to these same attacks.
Many after leaving office, Cheney became a target of President Donald Trump… most notably after daughter Liz Cheney grew into the leading Republican critic and examiner of Trump’s dangerous attempts to stay in power after his election defeat and his actions in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in a television ad for his daughter.
“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward.”
Incredibly, Cheney even voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential election.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)During President George H.W. Bush’s single White House term, Cheney served as the secretary of defense, directing two of the largest military campaigns in recent history:
Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. For his leadership in the Gulf War, Cheney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bush Sr. on July 3, 1991.
On the entertainment side, Cheney’s career and family were the subject of 2018’s Best Picture-nominated film Vice, starring Christian Bale as the titular character.
He is survived by his high school sweetheart and spouse of 61 years, Lynne. The couple shared two daughters, Liz and Mary, and seven grandchildren.
May Dick Cheney rest in peace.
