Former US Vice President Dick Cheney, Architect Of US’ Post-9/11 War On Terror, Dies At 84

Former US vice president Dick Cheney, who transformed the traditionally ceremonial role into one of immense power and influence, died Monday night at the age of 84.

Former US vice president Dick Cheney, who helped shape Washington’s response to the 9/11 attacks and emerged as the chief architect of America’s war on terror, died late Monday night (US time), the Washington Post reported, citing a statement from his family. He was 84.

Cheney turned the role of the US Vice President, traditionally inconsequential in nature, into a unusually muscular job and observers of American politics and foreign policy saw him “as a major power behind the throne”, according to a report by AFP.

He played a key role as George W. Bush’s number two during 9/11 and catastrophic wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and thrust the US into the so-called war on terror, a campaign that came to be defined by secret renditions, torture allegations and the creation of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

He was hated by many on the left but he is remembered for his recent remarkable pivot toward the end of his life when he opposed Donald Trump’s ultimately successful campaign to return to the White House in 2024.

Cheney’s daughter Liz Cheney, a former congresswoman from Wyoming, said her deeply Republican father had voted for Trump’s Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.

Cheney, also a former congressman and defense secretary, “died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease,” according to the family statement.

“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,” it said.

As 46th vice president, Cheney served for two terms between 2001 and 2009.

He served father and son presidents, leading the armed forces as defense chief during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush before returning to public life as vice president under Bush’s son George W. Bush.

Who Was Dick Cheney?

Dick Cheney, born in Lincoln, Nebraska, was the son of a longtime employee of the US Department of Agriculture. He grew up in Casper, Wyoming, where he was senior class president and co-captain of the football team. Cheney won a full scholarship to Yale but left after a year with poor grades, later returning to Wyoming to complete his studies at the University of Wyoming.

It was there that he rekindled his relationship with his high school sweetheart, Lynne Anne Vincent. The two married in 1964 and had two daughters, Liz and Mary. Cheney is survived by his wife and daughters.

Cheney’s political career began in 1968, when he arrived in Washington as a congressional fellow. He soon became a protégé of Donald Rumsfeld, then a Republican lawmaker from Illinois, working under him in two agencies and later in President Gerald Ford’s White House.

At 34, Cheney was appointed White House chief of staff, becoming the youngest ever to hold the position.

After 14 months in the post, Cheney returned to his hometown of Casper and successfully ran for Wyoming’s lone seat in the US House of Representatives.

During his first campaign, he suffered a mild heart attack but went on to win and was re-elected five more times.

In 1989, he joined President George H.W. Bush’s cabinet as secretary of defence, overseeing the 1990–91 Gulf War that drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Between his two stints in government, Cheney served as chairman and CEO of Halliburton, a Dallas-based oil services and engineering firm, taking on a role that later drew scrutiny when he became vice president under George W. Bush.