Dick Cheney has died at the age of 84, his family said in a statement.
Cheney, who served as the vice president under George W. Bush, passed away on November 3, according to his family.
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 as White House chief of staff and Defense Secretary before becoming Vice President.
Cheney was in office as Bush’s vice president when the September 11, 2001, attacks unfolded in New York City. Cheney later 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. He also suggested that the then-Iraqi government had ties to Al-Qaeda, which had carried out the chilling 9/11 attacks.
Cheney is regarded as the most powerful vice president in history due to the active role he played during George W. Bush’s time in office.
However, his support for the invasion of Iraq also made him one of the most polarising vice presidents in history. 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.
The politician 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 ad.
“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 also planned to vote for Harris, instead of Republican Donald Trump, during the 2024 election.
Christian Bale famously portrayed Cheney in the 2018 biopic Vice, which chronicled his journey to becoming Vice President. The movie was a black comedy, laced with political satire, but was regarded as a box office flop.
Despite costing $60 million to produce, Vice only managed to gross $76 million worldwide. Performances by Bale and his co-stars, which included Amy Adams, Steve Carel,l and Sam Rockwell, were praised despite the profit falling short at the box office.
Source: independent.co.uk