Dick Cheney, powerful former vice president, dies at 84

In the statement, his family called Cheney “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 to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

In 2000, Cheney was asked by Bush, the Republican presidential nominee, to help pick his running mate. In the end, it was Cheney’s own name that topped the list. He would, it was believed, provide gravitas and broad Washington experience for the younger Texas governor.

“He really wanted me to come on board because he thought I could help govern, be part of his team, and that he wanted me involved in everything,” Cheney told CBS’ “60 Minutes II.”

He was viewed as one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history; at the same time, he became a lightning rod for those who opposed the war in Iraq and the expansion of presidential powers.

“Cheney really drastically changed the presidency, the vice president’s role and our standing in the international community,” presidential historian Alexis Coe told CBS News.

In a statement Tuesday, Bush called Cheney a “calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges.”

“I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best,” Bush said. “He held to his convictions and prioritized the freedom and security of the American people. For those two terms in office, and throughout his remarkable career, Dick Cheney’s service always reflected credit on the country he loved.”

In recent years, Cheney saw his daughter Liz Cheney achieve political prominence as a Wyoming GOP representative in Congress known for her open criticism of President Trump. She lost her position as the top Republican woman in the House over her fight with Mr. Trump about his baseless claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. She went on to serve as vice chair of the House select committee investigating the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and continued to warn of the danger that she said Mr. Trump posed to democracy, even campaigning for his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in 2024.

Dick Cheney cut an ad for his daughter’s failed 2022 reelection campaign backing her position, arguing that in U.S. history