Dick Cheney, powerful and polarising former US Vice President, dies at 84

Washington, November 4. Former US Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the most influential and controversial figures in American politics, has died at the age of 84. His family said he passed away due to complications from pneumonia, compounded by long-standing cardiac and vascular conditions.

Cheney, who served as Vice President under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, was widely regarded as one of the most powerful vice presidents in US history. His tenure was marked by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, after which he became a central architect of Washington’s national security and foreign policy responses, including the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a statement, Cheney’s family said he died “peacefully, surrounded by his wife, Lynne, and daughters Liz and Mary” on November 3. The White House ordered flags to be flown at half-mast in his memory. Former President George W Bush mourned his longtime deputy as “a patriot, a man of deep conviction, and a steady hand during times of crisis”.

Born on January 30, 1941, in Lincoln, Nebraska, Richard Bruce Cheney began his political career in the Nixon administration and rose to prominence as White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford. He later represented Wyoming in the House of Representatives for a decade and served as Secretary of Defense under President George HW Bush, overseeing the 1991 Gulf War.

When he became Vice President in 2001, Cheney’s deep experience in national security and his strong views on executive power shaped the Bush administration’s response to terrorism. He was a key advocate of the Iraq War, arguing that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction – a claim later discredited but which defined his public legacy.

Cheney’s vice presidency transformed the office from a largely ceremonial role into a powerful policy-making position. He drove major decisions on counterterrorism operations, enhanced interrogation techniques, and warrantless surveillance programs – policies that supporters viewed as vital for national security but critics denounced as erosions of civil liberties.

His assertive approach earned him both admiration and condemnation. To allies, Cheney was a model of steadiness and strategic clarity; to detractors, he symbolised what they saw as the excesses of post-9/11 American power.

After leaving office, Cheney largely retreated from public life, though he remained a potent voice in conservative politics. Having survived five heart attacks and a 2012 heart transplant, he continued to comment on national issues and became an outspoken critic of Donald Trump and his influence on the Republican Party.

In 2024, Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney, a former Congresswoman from Wyoming, endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump, describing the latter as “the greatest threat to our republic in my lifetime”.

Reactions to Cheney’s death reflected the deep divide over his legacy. Republicans hailed him as a stalwart defender of American interests and a master of governance, while critics remembered him for his role in the Iraq War and the expansion of executive power.

“History will debate Dick Cheney’s legacy for decades,” said political historian Margaret O’Donnell. “He redefined the vice presidency and the national security state – for better or for worse.”