Dick Cheney, the influential Vice President to George W. Bush who was a central figure in the invasion of Iraq, has died. He was 84 and died due to “complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease,” according to his family.
A statement from his family quoted by press said Cheney died surrounded by his wife Lynne, daughters Liz and Mary, and other family members.
“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 statement said.
“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.”
Cheney, who was played by Christian Bale in Adam McKay’s 2018 biographical black comedy Vice, is widely considered to be one of the most influential and powerful Veeps of all time.
He ran alongside Bush Jr in 2000, narrowly defeating Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. Following 9/11, he was an early proponent of invading Iraq, alleging that the Saddam Hussein regime had weapons of mass destruction, an allegation that was never substantiated.
The Iraq invasion and the policies he championed against terrorism made him a household name around the world. He was Veep from 2001 to 2009, ending his tenure as an unpopular political figure when Bush’s second term was up. Born Richard Bruce Cheney in Nebraska in 1941, he was White House Chief of Staff in the 1970s and Secretary of Defense under George Bush Snr between 1989 and 1993.
In recent years, Cheney had become critical of the direction of the Republican leadership, especially under Donald Trump. Last year, he endorsed Kamala Harris in the race for President once Joe Biden had dropped out. Trump subsequently called him an “irrelevant RINO [Republican In Name Only].”
Cheney was profiled in a 2013 doc, The World According to Dick Cheney, and the polarizing Vice movie, which also starred Amy Adams and Sam Rockwell and was nominated for eight Oscars.
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