Breaking — Former Vice President Dick Cheney has died at 84. He passed away on November 3, 2025, due to complications from pneumonia and chronic heart and vascular disease.
Cheney was born on January 30, 1941, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and raised in Casper, Wyoming. He earned both a B.A. and M.A. in political science from the University of Wyoming after a brief time at Yale. Early in his career, he worked as a congressional aide, served under Presidents Nixon and Ford, and became the youngest White House Chief of Staff.
He represented Wyoming in the U.S. House for six terms (1979–1989) and later served as Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. In 2000, he was selected as George W. Bush’s vice president, a role he held from 2001 to 2009. His tenure reshaped the vice presidency, especially after 9/11, as he played a central role in America’s military, surveillance, and executive power expansions — leading many to call him the most powerful VP in U.S. history.
Cheney was a staunch believer in a strong executive branch, famously arguing that the Constitution “assumes” such power. Critics saw him as secretive and overly powerful, while supporters viewed him as a security-focused strategist.
Outside politics, Cheney loved hunting, fly-fishing in Wyoming, and spending time with his family. He was married to Lynne Cheney for more than 60 years, and they had two daughters, Liz and Mary, and several grandchildren. Known for his dry humor, loyalty, and intensity, he remained active in public life even after receiving a heart transplant in 2012.
His legacy is deeply polarizing: for some, a patriotic statesman who understood power; for others, a symbol of executive overreach and diminished civil liberties. His final words on his legacy were humble: “History will make its judgment. I’ve made mine.”
He is survived by his wife Lynne, daughters Liz and Mary, his grandchildren, and a nation still grappling with the impact of his political career.