By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
Dick Cheney, the former vice president of the United States, died Monday at age 84.
Cheney’s family announced his death in a statement Tuesday, saying he passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones from complications of pneumonia, cardiac, and vascular disease.
“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honour, love, kindness, and fly fishing,” the family said.
“We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country.”
His wife, Lynne Cheney, daughters Liz and Mary Cheney, and other relatives were at his bedside.
Born Jan. 30, 1941, in Lincoln, Neb., Cheney rose through Republican ranks as a Wyoming congressman, White House chief of staff under President Gerald Ford and defence secretary under President George H.W Bush.
As vice president from 2001 to 2009, Cheney wielded unprecedented authority, steering post-9/11 policies including the Iraq invasion — launched on intelligence about weapons of mass destruction later found erroneous — and expanded surveillance and interrogation programmes critics called torture.
Before the vice presidency, he led Halliburton, the energy services giant that later secured major Iraq contracts, fueling conflict-of-interest accusations.
A five-time heart attack survivor who received a transplant in 2012, Cheney remained politically active in retirement.
He sharply criticized Democratic policies and, with daughter Liz, endorsed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in 2024, warning Trump posed a threat to the republic.
Cheney is survived by his wife, two daughters, and extended family. Funeral arrangements were pending.
