Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney, the 46th vice president of the United States, who served two terms under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, died November 4, 2025 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family announced. He was 84.

Cheney has been called the most powerful and influential vice president in U.S. history, having taken an unusually active role in the Bush administration as a trusted advisor who pushed for the expansion of presidential power. Cheney was particularly instrumental in guiding the country's escalation of the War on Terror following the 9/11 attacks. He was one of the prime movers behind the creation of the USA Patriot Act, which gave the government more power to identify, monitor, detain, and interrogate individuals suspected of supporting terrorism.

"Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges," former President Bush said in a statement. "I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best. He held to his convictions and prioritized the freedom and security of the American people."

Prior to the vice presidency, Cheney had notable roles in the cabinets of several Republican presidents, dating back to Gerald Ford, for whom he served as chief of staff. During the Reagan years, he represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he quickly rose to the position of House Minority Whip. President George H.W. Bush named Cheney the Secretary of Defense, where he became highly influential over U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, including the Gulf War of 1991.

Between his tenure in the Pentagon and his time as vice president, Cheney worked in the private sector as chairman of the board and CEO at oil company Halliburton.

He consistently articulated a pragmatic foreign policy unafraid to use the United States's power to further the nation's interests in the world. "The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States," he said in a 1998 speech. "Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all considered, one would not normally choose to go. But we go where the business is."

Cheney, a longtime heavy smoker, had heart problems throughout much of his adult life, beginning with his first heart attack at age 37. He would go on to have four more heart attacks, in addition to undergoing coronary artery bypass in 1988, receiving a stent in 2000, being rushed into coronary balloon angioplasty in 2001, and having a pacemaker installed later in 2001. Cheney received a heart transplant in 2012.

He is survived by his wife, Lynne, and his daughters Liz, a former U.S. Representative from Wyoming, and Mary.

By Linnea Crowther

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images