Dick Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, Dies at 84

Dick Cheney, the influential Republican who served as the 46th vice president of the United States under President George W. Bush, died on Monday, Nov. 3, at the age of 84, according to a statement from his family.

Surrounded by his wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary, Cheney passed away “due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease,” the statement said.

“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,” his family shared. “He 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 he did for our nation and blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

Cheney is survived by his wife of 61 years, Lynne, their two daughters, Liz and Mary, and seven grandchildren.

Richard Bruce Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Jan. 30, 1941, and grew up in Casper, Wyoming. He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Wyoming.

His career in public service began in 1969 when he joined the Nixon administration, taking on roles with the Cost of Living Council, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and the White House. After a brief departure from government in 1973, he returned to serve on the transition team for President Gerald Ford, who took office after Richard Nixon’s resignation. Cheney later became Ford’s deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff, also managing Ford’s unsuccessful 1976 presidential campaign.

Elected six times as Wyoming’s sole representative in the U.S. House, Cheney rose through Republican leadership ranks, serving as chair of the Republican Policy Committee, chair of the House Republican Conference, and later as House minority whip. He was known for his conservative positions on abortion, gun control, and environmental regulation. He suffered his first heart attack in 1978 and underwent quadruple-bypass surgery a decade later.

During President George H.W. Bush’s administration, Cheney served as secretary of defense, overseeing Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. For his leadership during the Gulf War, Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991.

Following Bush’s 1992 election loss, Cheney joined the American Enterprise Institute and later became chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company, a major oil and gas services provider. When George W. Bush sought the presidency in 2000, Cheney led the search for a vice-presidential candidate—only to become the nominee himself. The Bush-Cheney ticket won the Electoral College after one of the closest elections in U.S. history, despite losing the popular vote.

Two weeks after Election Day, Cheney suffered another mild heart attack.

As vice president, Cheney played a central role in shaping U.S. energy policy and foreign strategy, particularly in the Middle East. He was a key architect of the “war on terror” following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, influencing decisions that led to the Iraq invasion. Many historians consider him the most powerful vice president in U.S. history.

After leaving office, Cheney remained active in public debate, though his approval ratings had plummeted by the end of the Bush years. In 2010, he suffered his fifth heart attack and received a heart transplant two years later. His office noted that the family “will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift” from an anonymous donor, after waiting 20 months for the transplant.

Liz Cheney followed her father into politics, serving as Wyoming’s sole House representative from 2016 to 2023. She became one of the most prominent Republican critics of former President Donald Trump, a stance that cost her reelection. Before Congress, she worked in the State Department focusing on Middle Eastern affairs.

Mary Cheney, his younger daughter, became an activist and marriage equality advocate after coming out as a lesbian in high school. “Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it’s an issue our family is very familiar with,” Cheney said in 2004. “My general view is freedom means freedom for everyone.”

The sisters’ differing views on same-sex marriage once caused tension, though they later reconciled. In 2021, Liz admitted she had been “wrong” to oppose gay marriage, a change her sister publicly appreciated.

Cheney’s career and family life were portrayed in the 2018 Oscar-nominated film Vice, with Christian Bale starring as the former vice president.