Dick Cheney, who served under four Republican presidents and became one of the most powerful and controversial vice presidents in American history as the architect of the post-9/11 war on terrorism, died at 84. His family said he died from complications of pneumonia and heart and vascular diseases.
Cheney served as George W. Bush’s vice president for two terms starting in 2001 and tirelessly advocated for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Many Americans came to see the war as a strategic and humanitarian disaster. The conflict had far-reaching political and political consequences that helped turn the public against the intervention and disrupted Republican politics. Cheney continued to defend the invasion long after leaving office in 2009.
He had a heart condition most of his life and underwent a transplant in 2012. That allowed him to live to see his daughter Liz Cheney follow in his political footsteps and become leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. Before serving as vice president, Cheney was Secretary of Defense under George HW Bush and Chief of Staff to Gerald Ford at age 34.
