Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served two terms as vice president under former President George W. Bush, passed away overnight at the age of 84.
Cheney’s family said in a statement that the former Vice President died overnight “due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.”
“His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” the Cheneys 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,” his family added.
“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 was plagued with health problems for many years. Cheney suffered the first of five heart attacks at age 37 and had a heart transplant in 2012.
He was defense secretary during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush and returned to the spotlight in the 2000 presidential election and the younger Bush’s running mate.
Cheney, who was one of the country’s leaders during the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, was known as a fierce conservative.
But he was viewed by many as one of the most polarizing vice presidents in US history and was widely considered to be one of the architects of the controversial Iraq War.
Cheney was a vocal advocate for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, suggesting there were links between Iraq, al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and weapons of mass destruction.
Despite no weapons of mass destruction being found during the invasion, Cheney advocated that the invasion was the right decision based on the intelligence at the time and the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Years after leaving office, Cheney became a target of President Donald Trump, especially after his daughter Liz Cheney became the leading Republican critic after his election defeat and his actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in a television ad for his daughter.
“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward.”
And despite being a notorious conservative, Cheney said last year he was voting for then-Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney moved as a boy to Wyoming with his family before attending Yale University and later dropping out.
Cheney went to Washington in 1969 as a congressional intern and held various White House jobs during the Republican administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
He is survived by his wife, by Liz and by a second daughter, Mary.
Details of Cheney’s funeral were not available at the time of publication.