Dick Cheney liked to quip about how he successfully delivered Wyoming’s three electoral votes for George W. Bush in both of their campaigns for the White House. It was partially a self-deprecating joke, as there was obviously never any doubt of Bush’s ability to carry the sparsely populated state. But it was also a flex. After all, unlike other running mates chosen to provide regional balance or to shore up a certain coalition, Cheney was chosen for his long body of experience and ability to serve Bush as a governing partner. It also was a reminder of the fact that in 2000 — one of the closest presidential elections in history — three electoral votes proved decisive.
Cheney died on Monday night from complications stemming from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease. He was 84.
Richard “Dick” Cheney was born in Lincoln, Neb., on January 30, 1941. He grew up in Casper, Wyo., and remained there, obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Wyoming. While still in his 20s, he joined the Nixon administration, serving in a variety of capacities at the Cost of Living Council and Office of Economic Opportunity and, eventually, the White House. When Gerald Ford took over as president, he rose to the position of chief of staff for the last 14 months of the administration.
After Ford left office, Cheney returned to Wyoming where he was successfully elected to fill the state’s sole congressional seat in 1978 — a job that he would hold for over a decade. When George H. W. Bush became president, Cheney was tapped as secretary of defense. He became a household name in 1991 as a result of his steady briefings during the successful campaign to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War.
While out of power in the 1990s, Cheney served as chief executive officer of the oil services giant Halliburton, a job that brought him a lot of money and provided ample fodder for conspiracy theorists. It also set up one of the most memorable debate exchanges of his political career.
Cheney was never known as a sterling orator, but his confident, matter-of-fact style allowed him to dominate both of the vice-presidential debates in which he participated. He exposed John Edwards’s phoniness and lack of experience in 2004, and out-dueled the late Joe Lieberman in a spirited and civil debate in 2000.
Lieberman, in an attempted dig at the wealth Cheney had amassed while out of politics, remarked, “I can see my wife and I think she’s thinking, ‘I wish he would go out into the private sector.’” Without missing a beat, Cheney shot back, “I’m going to try to help you do that, Joe.” Raucous laughter ensued.
To his fans and detractors, Cheney will be most known for the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. On that fateful day, as Bush zigzagged back from Florida on Air Force One, Cheney took charge from a bunker underneath the White House, having been given the authority to order the shooting down of civilian aircraft that posed a threat, though it never came to that.
For the remainder of the administration, Cheney was a key architect of the strategy for combating terrorism that successfully weakened al-Qaeda and prevented another large-scale attack but that also included the launching of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both wars enjoyed popular support at the outset but gained critics as they dragged on and the costs in lives and treasure swelled.
While Cheney stayed out of office after leaving the vice presidency, he did occasionally weigh in on political controversies of the day, offering blistering criticism of Barack Obama, who he said was the worst president in American history.
“I vacillate between the various theories I’ve heard, but you know, if you had somebody as president who wanted to take America down, who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world and reduce our capacity to influence events, turn our back on our allies and encourage our adversaries, it would look exactly like what Barack Obama’s doing,” he said in 2015.
As Republican voters came to sour on the legacy of the Iraq War and they moved to embrace Donald Trump, Cheney fell out of favor with the party. His daughter Liz, who was elected to the seat in which he once served, became a lightning rod because of her staunch opposition to Trump. In 2024, Dick Cheney joined his daughter in endorsing Kamala Harris.
Cheney lived a full life, serving the country for decades, and his legacy will be long debated. May he rest in peace.