Dick Cheney, former vice president from 2000 to 2008 under George W. Bush died on November 3, 2024. Following a lengthy career in politics and business, his tenure as vice president has often been described as the most powerful a vice president has ever been. He was a polarizing figure and is often considered the architect of the United States’ invasion of Iraq.
His political career began in 1968, after having graduated from the University of Wyoming with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in political science, when he moved to Washington D.C., became a congressional fellow, and began working in the Nixon administration. In 1974 he became deputy assistant to Gerald Ford, and later, his chief of staff from 1975 to 1977. The next year, he was elected from Wyoming to the first of six terms in the House of Representatives, where he represented the Republican Party, taking conservative views on abortion, gun control, and several other issues.
Cheney served both Bush’s during their presidencies. He was the Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993. During this period, he oversaw several military operations including the U.S. invasion of Panama and the participation of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf War. When President Bush lost his reelection bid in 1992, he became chairman and chief executive officer of Halliburton, a supplier to oil and gas companies. He would later resign when he was appointed vice president.
Before serving as vice president to George W. Bush, Cheney was appointed to head Bush’s vice presidential search committee and, even after suffering a heart attack two weeks after election day, led Bush’s presidential transition team. During Cheney’s tenure as vice president, he was a controversial figure, primarily for conveying intelligence reports that Saddam Hussein, the authoritarian President of Iraq, had developed weapons of mass destruction. Reports such as these were used by the Bush administration to justify their invasion of Iraq. However, United Nations weapons inspectors later found that there was no evidence that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons or any active programs. Besides this, it is often said that Cheney assumed the role of chief operating officer by screening potential Supreme Court nominees, presiding over the budget, taking the lead in counterterrorism efforts, and even circumventing the president by rewriting his tax bill so that it included a capital gains tax break, which Bush initially rejected.
After his vice presidency Cheney still remained in the public eye, often speaking on political matters and even gaining the ire of current president Donald Trump, who was not invited to his funeral. Cheney died in Northern Virginia at the age of 84 after experiencing complications related to pneumonia and vascular disease. Former president George W. Bush issued a statement that praised Cheney as “..a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held.” Former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden also issued statements that honored Cheney. However, critics of his have suggested that he was a war criminal who never faced any prosecution while alive.
Disregarding political parties or any opinions on the man himself, it is clear that Dick Cheney had a clear and lasting effect on American politics and what it meant to be a vice president.
