Dick Cheney, Former Vice President, Iraq War Architect and Trump Critic, Dies at 84

Dick Cheney, who served as vice president of the United States of America under George W. Bush and is considered one of the architects of the Iraq War, has died. He was 84.

“Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, died last night, November 3, 2025. He was 84 years old,” said his family in a statement. “His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed. The former vice president died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.”

Cheney was vice president between 2001 and 2009, and also served as secretary of defense under George Bush between 1989 and 1993. Before that, Cheney acted as Gerald Ford’s White House chief of staff in the 1970s, before spending a decade in the House of Representatives, representing Wyoming.

He became most prominently known as a central figure in the “war on terror” following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and an early advocate of the invasion of Iraq. He was widely regarded as one of the most powerful vice presidents in history, pushing for a series of tax cuts, as well as advocating for interrogation techniques and warrantless surveillance that his critics slammed as inhumane and extra-judicial. Cheney’s influence was so great that he was likened to Darth Vader. Cheney seemed to embrace the moniker, dressing up as the “Star Wars” villain during a 2011 “Tonight Show” appearance.

Cheney recently stunned the political establishment by becoming a vocal critic of Donald Trump after the president’s supporters stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden’s election. Along with his daughter, Liz Cheney, herself a former Wyoming representative and Republican power broker, he threw his support behind Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. election.

Cheney said there had “never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump” and accused him of trying to “steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him.”