Former Vice President Dick Cheney, renowned for his robust political influence during his tenure, has passed away.
The Cheney family announced the passing of Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, stating, “He left us on the evening of November 3, 2025, at the age of 84.” At the time of his passing, he was surrounded by his wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members. His demise was attributed to complications from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.
Cheney’s career spanned nearly four decades in Washington, D.C. He began as the youngest White House chief of staff under President Gerald Ford, represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives where he collaborated closely with congressional leaders and President Ronald Reagan, served as Secretary of Defense under President George H.W. Bush, and culminated his career with two terms as Vice President under President George W. Bush.
In addition to his political career, Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton, a major energy company with a global footprint headquartered in Texas.
During the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Cheney took decisive action as the initial leader when the President was absent from Washington.
In his memoir “In My Time,” Cheney recounted, “When the president contacted me, I informed him of the attack on the Pentagon and advised him to remain out of Washington. The city was under siege, and the White House was a potential target. Although he was reluctant to appear evasive, I urged him to stay away until we had a clearer picture of the situation.”
He and senior staff gathered at the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, where they monitored the horror unfolding.
“I stayed up into the morning hours thinking about what the attack meant and how we should respond,” Cheney wrote in his memoir. “We were in a new era and needed an entirely new strategy to keep America secure. The first war of the twenty-first century wouldn’t simply be a conflict of nation against nation, army against army. It would be first and foremost a war against terrorists who operated in the shadows, feared no deterrent, and would use any weapon they could get their hands on to destroy us.”
As vice president, Cheney was also known as the mastermind behind much of the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq.
“His power is unparalleled in the history of the republic, frankly, for that position,” John Hulsman, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank, told ABC’s “Nightline” in 2005.
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