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WASHINGTON (AP) — Dick Cheney, the hard-charging blimpish who became 1 of the astir almighty and polarizing vice presidents successful U.S. past and a starring advocator for the penetration of Iraq, has died astatine property 84.
Cheney died Monday nighttime owed to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his household said successful a statement.
“For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including arsenic White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President of the United States," the connection said. "Dick Cheney was a large and bully antheral who taught his children and grandchildren to emotion our country, and to unrecorded lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and alert fishing. We are grateful beyond measurement for each Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measurement to person loved and been loved by this noble elephantine of a man.”
The softly forceful Cheney served begetter and lad presidents, starring the equipped forces arsenic defence main during the Persian Gulf War nether President George H.W. Bush earlier returning to nationalist beingness arsenic vice president nether Bush's lad George W. Bush.
Cheney was, successful effect, the main operating serviceman of the younger Bush's presidency. He had a hand, often a commanding one, successful implementing decisions astir important to the president and immoderate of surpassing involvement to himself — each portion surviving with decades of bosom illness and, post-administration, a bosom transplant. Cheney consistently defended the bonzer tools of surveillance, detention and inquisition employed successful effect to the violent attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Years aft leaving office, helium became a people of President Donald Trump, particularly aft his girl Liz Cheney became the starring Republican professional and examiner of Trump's hopeless attempts to enactment successful powerfulness aft his predetermination decision and his actions successful the Jan. 6, 2021, riot astatine the Capitol.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, determination has ne'er been an idiosyncratic who was a greater menace to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said successful a tv advertisement for his daughter. “He tried to bargain the past predetermination utilizing lies and unit to support himself successful powerfulness aft the voters had rejected him. He is simply a coward.”
In a twist the Democrats of his epoch could ne'er person imagined, Dick Cheney said past twelvemonth helium was voting for their candidate, Kamala Harris, for president against Trump.
A subsister of 5 bosom attacks, Cheney agelong thought helium was surviving connected borrowed clip and declared successful 2013 helium present awoke each greeting "with a grin connected my face, thankful for the acquisition of different day,” an unusual representation for a fig who ever seemed to beryllium manning the ramparts.
His vice presidency defined by the property of terrorism, Cheney disclosed that helium had had the wireless relation of his defibrillator turned disconnected years earlier retired of fearfulness terrorists would remotely nonstop his bosom a fatal shock.
In his clip successful office, nary longer was the vice presidency simply a ceremonial afterthought. Instead, Cheney made it a web of backmost channels from which to power argumentation connected Iraq, terrorism, statesmanlike powers, vigor and different cornerstones of a blimpish agenda.
Fixed with a seemingly imperishable half-smile -- detractors called it a smirk -- Cheney joked astir his outsize estimation arsenic a stealthy manipulator.
"Am I the evil genius successful the country that cipher ever sees travel retired of his hole?" helium asked. "It's a bully mode to operate, actually."
The Iraq War
A hard-liner connected Iraq who was progressively isolated arsenic different hawks near government, Cheney was proved incorrect connected constituent aft constituent successful the Iraq War, without ever losing the condemnation that helium was fundamentally right.
He alleged links betwixt the 2001 attacks against the United States and prewar Iraq that didn't exist. He said U.S. troops would beryllium welcomed arsenic liberators; they weren't.
He declared the Iraqi insurgency successful its past throes successful May 2005, backmost erstwhile 1,661 U.S. work members had been killed, not adjacent fractional the toll by war’s end.
For admirers, helium kept the religion successful a shaky time, resolute adjacent arsenic the federation turned against the warfare and the leaders waging it.
But good into Bush's 2nd term, Cheney's clout waned, checked by courts oregon shifting governmental realities.
Courts ruled against efforts helium championed to broaden statesmanlike authorization and accord peculiar harsh attraction to suspected terrorists. His hawkish positions connected Iran and North Korea were not afloat embraced by Bush.
Cheney operated overmuch of the clip from undisclosed locations successful the months aft the 2001 attacks, kept isolated from Bush to guarantee 1 oregon the different would past immoderate follow-up battle connected the country's leadership.
With Bush retired of municipality connected that fateful day, Cheney was a dependable beingness successful the White House, astatine slightest until Secret Service agents lifted him disconnected his feet and carried him away, successful a country the vice president aboriginal described to comical effect.
Cheney's narration with Bush
From the beginning, Cheney and Bush struck an unusual bargain, unspoken but good understood. Shelving immoderate ambitions helium mightiness person had to win Bush, Cheney was accorded powerfulness comparable successful immoderate ways to the presidency itself.
That bargain mostly held up.
"He is constituted successful a mode to beryllium the eventual No. 2 guy," Dave Gribbin, a person who grew up with Cheney successful Casper, Wyoming, and worked with him successful Washington, erstwhile said. "He is congenitally discreet. He is remarkably loyal."
As Cheney enactment it: "I made the determination erstwhile I signed connected with the president that the lone docket I would person would beryllium his agenda, that I was not going to beryllium similar astir vice presidents — and that was angling, trying to fig retired however I was going to beryllium elected president erstwhile his word was implicit with.”
His penchant for secrecy and backstage maneuvering had a price. He came to beryllium seen arsenic a thin-skinned Machiavelli orchestrating a bungled effect to disapproval of the Iraq War. And erstwhile helium changeable a hunting companion successful the torso, cervix and look with an errant shotgun blast successful 2006, helium and his coterie were dilatory to disclose that bonzer crook of events.
The vice president called it "one of the worst days of my life.” The victim, his person Harry Whittington, recovered and rapidly forgave him. Comedians were relentless astir it for months. Whittington died successful 2023.
When Bush began his statesmanlike quest, helium sought assistance from Cheney, a Washington insider who had retreated to the lipid business. Cheney led the squad to find a vice statesmanlike candidate.
Bush decided the champion prime was the antheral picked to assistance with the choosing.
Together, the brace faced a protracted 2000 postelection conflict earlier they could assertion victory. A bid of recounts and tribunal challenges — a tempest that brewed from Florida to the nation's highest tribunal — near the federation successful limbo for weeks.
Cheney took complaint of the statesmanlike modulation earlier triumph was wide and helped springiness the medication a creaseless motorboat contempt the mislaid time. In office, disputes among departments vying for a bigger portion of Bush's constrained fund came to his table and often were settled there.
On Capitol Hill, Cheney lobbied for the president's programs successful halls helium had walked arsenic a profoundly blimpish subordinate of Congress and the No. 2 Republican House leader.
Jokes abounded astir however Cheney was the existent No. 1 successful town; Bush didn't look to caput and cracked a fewer himself. But specified comments became little apt aboriginal successful Bush’s presidency arsenic helium intelligibly came into his own.
Cheney's governmental rise
Politics archetypal lured Dick Cheney to Washington successful 1968, erstwhile helium was a legislature fellow. He became a protégé of Rep. Donald Rumsfeld, R-Ill., serving nether him successful 2 agencies and successful Gerald Ford’s White House earlier helium was elevated to main of staff, the youngest ever, astatine property 34.
Cheney held the station for 14 months, past returned to Casper, wherever helium had been raised, and ran for the state's lone legislature seat.
In that archetypal contention for the House, Cheney suffered a mild bosom attack, prompting him to ace helium was forming a radical called "Cardiacs for Cheney." He inactive managed a decisive triumph and went connected to triumph 5 much terms.
In 1989, Cheney became defence caput nether the archetypal President Bush and led the Pentagon during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War that drove Iraq's troops from Kuwait. Between the 2 Bush administrations, Cheney led Dallas-based Halliburton Corp., a ample engineering and operation institution for the lipid industry.
Cheney was calved successful Lincoln, Nebraska, lad of a longtime Agriculture Department worker. Senior people president and shot co-captain successful Casper, helium went to Yale connected a afloat assistance for a twelvemonth but near with failing grades.
He moved backmost to Wyoming, yet enrolled astatine the University of Wyoming and renewed a narration with precocious schoolhouse sweetheart Lynne Anne Vincent, marrying her successful 1964. He is survived by his wife, by Liz and by a 2nd daughter, Mary.
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Associated Press writer Mead Gruver successful Cheyenne, Wyoming, contributed to this report.
