Dick Cheney, a central force behind the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and regarded as one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history, died at 84 on Monday from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said Tuesday.
A former Wyoming congressman and secretary of defense, Cheney helped expand presidential power as vice president from 2001 to 2009 and built a national security team that became its own power center. He vigorously advocated for the Iraq war, warning of weapons of mass destruction that were never found, and defended “enhanced” interrogation techniques that others called “torture.” He clashed with several top aides, including Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
Cheney’s daughter Liz lost her House seat after opposing Donald Trump and voting to impeach him after the January 6, 2021 attack. Her father agreed and said he would vote for Kamala Harris in 2024. “In our nation’s 248 year-history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” he said.
Cheney suffered heart problems for decades and received a heart transplant in 2012. As defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush, he directed the operation to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991. He later ran Halliburton, which became a major Iraq war contractor.
Born in Nebraska in 1941, Cheney grew up in Wyoming, eventually earning degrees from the University of Wyoming. In Washington, he worked under Presidents Nixon and Ford and served a decade in Congress with a conservative record.
He is survived by his wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary, who were with him when he died.
