Former Vice President Dick Cheney, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures to hold the office, has passed away.

The Cheney family released a statement announcing the death of Richard B. Cheney, who served as the 46th Vice President of the United States. Cheney died on the night of November 3, 2025, at the age of 84. His wife of 61 years, Lynne, along with their daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members, were by his side. The cause of death was complications arising from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.

Cheney’s political career spanned nearly 40 years in Washington. He first made his mark as the youngest White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford. He later represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he collaborated closely with congressional leaders and President Ronald Reagan. Cheney’s influence continued to grow as he took on the role of Secretary of Defense under President George H.W. Bush and subsequently served two terms as Vice President under President George W. Bush.

Beyond his political endeavors, Cheney also held the position of CEO at Halliburton, a major energy corporation based in Texas with operations worldwide.

Cheney’s decisive leadership came to the forefront during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when he assumed control while the President was away from Washington.

“When the president came on the line, I told him that the Pentagon had been hit and urged him to stay away from Washington,” Cheney recalled in his memoir, “In My Time.” “The city was under attack, and the White House was a target. I understood that he didn’t want to appear to be on the run, but he shouldn’t be here until we knew more about what was going on.”

He and senior staff gathered at the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, where they monitored the horror unfolding.

“I stayed up into the morning hours thinking about what the attack meant and how we should respond,” Cheney wrote in his memoir. “We were in a new era and needed an entirely new strategy to keep America secure. The first war of the twenty-first century wouldn’t simply be a conflict of nation against nation, army against army. It would be first and foremost a war against terrorists who operated in the shadows, feared no deterrent, and would use any weapon they could get their hands on to destroy us.”

As vice president, Cheney was also known as the mastermind behind much of the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq.

“His power is unparalleled in the history of the republic, frankly, for that position,” John Hulsman, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank, told ABC’s “Nightline” in 2005.

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