The unapologetic neo-conservative who championed the Iraq War and aggressive executive power died Monday, following a late-life pivot as a prominent anti-Trump Republican.
 |
| Former US vice president Dick Cheney has died at age 84 (MANDEL NGAN) |
WASHINGTON — Dick Cheney, the indomitable political force who transformed the vice presidency from a ceremonial post into a commanding center of power, died on Monday. He was 84.
His death, announced by his family, was attributed to "complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease," a final chapter in a life marked by decades of public battles with heart ailments.
Cheney served two terms (2001-2009) as the 46th vice president under George W. Bush. He was not merely an advisor but the primary architect of the "war on terror" following the September 11, 2001 attacks, steering the nation into two catastrophic wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
President George W. Bush, in a statement Tuesday, hailed his former number two as "among the finest public servants of his generation" and "a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence and seriousness of purpose to every position he held." Bush added simply that Cheney was "the one I needed" in the White House.
The Power Behind the Throne
For ambitious politicians, the vice presidency is often a frustrating, inconsequential job. But Cheney, armed with decades of Washington experience and sharp Machiavellian skills, forged an unprecedented role for himself.
He became the most influential vice president in American history, a major power behind the throne who shaped domestic and foreign policy with an iron will. He championed an aggressive, neo-conservative ideology and a controversial notion of "unitary executive power," believing the president should be able to operate almost entirely unfettered by lawmakers or the courts, particularly during wartime.
It was this approach that ushered in the darkest and most controversial underpinnings of the war on terror: the use of "enhanced interrogation" (widely condemned as torture), secret "rendition" programs, and the establishment of the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison site.
The Unapologetic Drumbeat for War
Cheney was one of the primary and most relentless driving forces behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He played a central role in building the case for war, fueled by inaccurate and later-disproven claims that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
Seen as Bush's seasoned mentor on foreign policy, Cheney remained fiercely loyal to his former boss and an unyielding defender of their administration's policies long after leaving office.
In a 2015 interview, he famously stated he had "no regrets" over the Iraq invasion. He also continued to credit the "enhanced interrogation program" for yielding intelligence that ultimately led to the capture of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden in 2011.
A Final, Surprising Pivot
A figure of intense controversy and a hate-figure to many on the American left, Cheney made a remarkable and unexpected pivot toward the end of his life. He became one of the most prominent Republican critics of Donald Trump.
He vehemently opposed Trump's ultimately successful 2024 campaign to return to the White House, aligning himself with his daughter, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, in her public battle against Trump's influence on the GOP.
In a final political act that stunned observers, Liz Cheney revealed that her deeply Republican father had crossed the ultimate party line: he voted for Trump's Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
A Life in Politics and Health Battles
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 30, 1941, Cheney grew up in the sparsely populated Western state of Wyoming, which would define his political identity. After famously dropping out of Yale University, he eventually earned a political science degree back home at the University of Wyoming.
His ascent in Washington was steady and relentless. He served ten years in Congress as Wyoming's sole representative before being appointed Secretary of Defense by President George H.W. Bush in 1989. In that role, Cheney presided over the Pentagon during the successful 1990-91 Gulf War, which evicted Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
Despite a preference for privacy, Cheney was rarely out of the headlines. He once hurled a famous expletive at a Democratic senator on the Senate floor and, infamously, accidentally shot his friend Harry Whittington in the face during a 2006 hunting trip.
His entire professional life was punctuated by a series of severe health scares. He suffered his first of five heart attacks in 1978, decades before becoming vice president. He underwent quadruple bypass surgery, had a pacemaker fitted in 2001 shortly after taking office, and later received a heart transplant in 2012, long after his time in power had concluded.
CaliToday.Net