Dick Cheney, regarded as one of the most powerful figures in modern U.S. politics, died at 84. His family said Cheney died from complications of pneumonia and cardiovascular disease.
According to foreign media including the New York Times (NYT) on the 4th (local time), he, who served as vice president under the George W. Bush administration, designed heavyweight policies on terrorism and war, tax cut, and power-structure reorganization, and was called a "shadow president."
During the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Cheney led the response from the White House's underground bunker, effectively steering the administration beyond the role of vice president. He led the enactment of the USA Patriot Act, and defended warrantless surveillance, indefinite detention, and the interrogation practices known as enhanced interrogation. The invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 Iraq War were also pursued under his design. Even after the intelligence on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was revealed to be false, Cheney denied responsibility for the decision to go to war, saying, "The president's decision at the time was right."
His political career traced an unprecedented trajectory. At 34, he was appointed White House chief of staff to President Gerald Ford, becoming the youngest to hold the post, and under the George H.W. Bush administration he served as defense secretary, directing the Gulf War. He won the military's trust through operations that efficiently deployed U.S. forces and swiftly retook Kuwait. Later, as George W. Bush's running mate and vice president, he wielded formidable authority across foreign policy, national security, and the economy. White House staff recalled, "Cheney seemed more presidential than the president."
But his exercise of power sparked constant controversy. An energy task force (TF) he led held closed-door meetings with oil company lobbyists, drawing criticism that "industry interests dictated national policy." When his chief of staff, Lewis Libby, was convicted of leaking to the press that the wife of a diplomat who criticized the rationale for the Iraq War was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative, the vice president's office was engulfed in accusations that it was "the source of retaliatory politics." Even so, Cheney did not yield, saying, "A strong executive is inevitable in an age of terror."
During the Bush administration's first term, he and the national security team, including Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld, were called a "hard-line conservative trio" and designed most of the president's agenda. But as the Iraq War dragged on, the prisoner abuse scandal and revelations of a domestic surveillance program continued, and his influence waned sharply in the latter half of the second term. Even President Bush wrote in his memoir that "Cheney became the administration's Darth Vader (shadow power)."
Even after leaving office, Cheney remained "Washington's hawk." He criticized the Obama administration's plan to close the Guantanamo detention center as "a decision that puts the nation at risk," and he clashed head-on with the Trump administration. He referred to President Donald Trump as "a threat to the constitutional order" and supported Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. His daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, also voted to impeach Trump, carrying on her father's political legacy.
Cheney's political philosophy was a "strong America." He argued that the executive powers weakened after the Vietnam War and Watergate should be restored, and he realized that under the Bush administration. The expansion of presidential authority, secret operations by intelligence agencies, and the doctrine of preemptive strike all began at Cheney's fingertips. On the other hand, controversies over infringements on civil liberties and opaque power were the dark shadows he left behind.
Cheney said, "The president has a duty to protect the people. At times, that comes before the Constitution." The remark shows how he viewed the boundary between power and liberty. With Cheney's death, the conservative security stance that symbolized the Bush administration has passed into history.