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Former Vice President Dick Cheney Dead at 84

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  November 04, 2025 7:00 AM

Former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney has died. He was 84 years old.

Cheney's family issued a statement on his passing.

The statement from the Cheney family reads:

“Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, died last night, November 3, 2025. He was 84 years old. 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.

“For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President of the United States.

“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing. We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to parents Marjorie and Richard. He had one brother. The family later moved to Casper, Wyoming, where Cheney spent most of his childhood. It was there he learned to love the outdoors, including hunting and fishing.

He graduated from Natrona County High School and enrolled at Yale University, where he studied briefly before returning to the University of Wyoming. There, he earned degrees in political science.

After college, he worked as an intern for Congressman William Steiger and moved to D.C. There, he worked his way up into the White House during the Nixon and Ford administrations, becoming White House Chief of Staff from 1975 to 1977. 

Cheney then returned to Wyoming, where he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He represented Wyoming's at-large congressional district and served briefly as House minority whip in 1979. He was appointed Secretary of Defense during the George H. W. Bush administration, a position he held from 1989 to 1993. While Secretary of Defense, he oversaw Operation Just Cause in 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Cheney was selected as George W. Bush's running mate in 2000. He was a leading force behind the war on terror following the September 11 terror attacks, including an early supporter of invading Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein.

In 2005, Cheney's office was the central focus of the Valerie Plame CIA leak scandal, and Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, eventually resigned after being indicted. Libby would later testify that Cheney authorized him to disclose classified information to the press regarding intelligence on Iraq's weapons. Libby was later convicted on four counts, including obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements to federal investigators. Cheney lobbied for a presidential pardon from Bush. President Trump pardoned Libby in 2018.

At the time, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said there "was a cloud over the vice president."

Cheney was the target of a failed assassination attempt outside Bagram Airfield base in Afghanistan. On February 27, 2007, a suicide bomber detonated a device that killed 23 and wounded 20 more while the Vice President was visiting the country during the ongoing war on terror.

At the end of his tenure as Vice President, Cheney left office as a deeply unpopular public figure with a 13 percent approval rating. After leaving the White House, Cheney remained politically active. He purchased a home in Virginia and raised funds for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. He was a critic of President Barack Obama's foreign and national security policies.

Cheney was also one of the first Republicans to openly endorse gay marriage, speaking at the National Press Club in 2009, "People ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish. I do believe, historically, the way marriage has been regulated is at a state level. It's always been a state issue, and I think that's the way it ought to be handled today." 

Cheney was also a vocal critic of President Trump, and indicated last year he intended to vote for Kamala Harris in the election and issued a statement explaining his motives:

In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again. As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Cheney married his wife, Lynne, in 1964. The couple had daughters, Mary and Liz. Cheney is survived by Lynne, Mary, Liz, and seven grandchildren.