The Republican died on Monday evening from complications resulting from pneumonia and cardiovascular disease, according to a statement from the family.
Cheney was 84. He was Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W Bush, and before that Secretary of Defense under his father George H W Bush.
Polarizing power players
He took office as vice president shortly before the terrorist attacks on the US East Coast on September 11, 2001, and became one of the masterminds behind the disastrous Iraq War, which claimed thousands of lives under the questionable assumption that the country was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Cheney was a neoconservative, he believed that the United States should spread democracy through military interventions. The Iraq War became the most important expression of this, notes Hallenberg.
CNN describes him as “the chief architect of the war on terror.”
He had direct policy responsibility, primarily over foreign policy. He pushed the idea of the Iraq war, says Hallenberg.
Born in Nebraska and raised in Wyoming, Republican Cheney was a polarizing power player in Washington, D.C., for decades. Before becoming secretary of state, he was a Republican member of the House of Representatives for several years. He was also President Gerald Ford's chief of staff.
Criticized Trump
In Cheney's final years, despite still being a staunch conservative, he became increasingly ostracized from his party due to his harsh criticism of Donald Trump, calling him a "coward" and the greatest threat ever to the United States.
Donald Trump's career is based on a distance from Cheney's approach, he has always said that the Iraq war was wrong. Trump has promised that he will not start any wars, then one can ask what the action against Venezuela is, Hallenberg reasons.
Cheney's daughter Liz Cheney, who was a Republican House representative for Wyoming between 2017 and 2023, has also distinguished herself as a strong Trump critic.
Dick Cheney's last vote – in the 2024 presidential election – fell, according to American media, on Democrat Kamala Harris.
In addition to Liz, Cheney is survived by his wife Lynne and daughter Mary.
