In the early days of November 2025, the United States received news that reverberated through the halls of power and the homes of ordinary citizens alike: Dick Cheney, the 46th vice president of the United States and a towering figure in modern American politics, had died at the age of 84. The announcement, made on Monday, November 3, cited complications from pneumonia and heart disease as the cause. In the days that followed, tributes, reflections, and even pointed silences revealed just how complex and consequential Cheney’s legacy remains.
Cheney’s journey began far from the centers of power that would later define his career. Born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, he arrived in New Haven in the fall of 1959 to begin his first semester at Yale College. As he recalled in his 2011 memoir, “In My Time,” the transition was jarring: “Many of my fellow students had gone to prep school. They had had experiences very different from mine and knew things that I did not… I was no longer a big fish in a small pond. Instead of being president of my class and hanging out in the student council office, I was waiting on my classmates in the dining hall.”
Cheney spent three semesters at Yale, living in Berkeley College, before returning to Wyoming in 1962 to reunite with his high-school sweetheart, Lynne, who would become his wife of 61 years. He took a job building power lines and later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Wyoming. Graduate work at the University of Wisconsin followed, but it was Washington, D.C. where Cheney’s ambitions found their full expression.
By the age of 34, Cheney had already reached the highest levels of government, serving as White House chief of staff for President Gerald Ford, himself a Yale Law School graduate. Cheney’s political ascent continued as he represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade, then served as secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993. He capped his career with two terms as vice president under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, a period that would cement his reputation as one of the most powerful and controversial vice presidents in U.S. history.
Cheney’s influence on American foreign policy was profound. As a principal architect of the Iraq War and an early champion of the post-9/11 “war on terror,” he reshaped the vice presidency into a central force in national security decisions. According to Axios, Cheney was “a principal architect of the Iraq War and an early champion of the post-9/11 'war on terror.'” His advocacy of the “unitary executive theory”—which holds that the president has sole authority over the executive branch, especially regarding national security—sparked fierce debate about the limits of presidential power.
His legacy, however, is far from unchallenged. Cheney’s hawkish stance on military intervention drew both praise and criticism, and his role in the invasion of Iraq remains a flashpoint in American political discourse. As the years passed, Cheney became an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, even calling him “a coward” and “the greatest threat to our republic.” He supported his daughter, Liz Cheney, as she broke with the Republican Party’s mainstream to back Trump’s second impeachment and endorse Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race. In November 2025, Trump defended his own harsh remarks about Liz Cheney, underscoring the deep divisions within the GOP.
Despite their differences, official tributes poured in from across the political spectrum. On November 5, George W. Bush issued a statement through the George W. Bush Presidential Center, calling Cheney’s death “a loss to the nation and a sorrow to his friends.” Bush wrote, “History will remember him as among the finest public servants of his generation — a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held.”
Governor Josh Stein of North Carolina also marked the occasion by ordering all U.S. and North Carolina flags at state facilities to be lowered to half-staff through Cheney’s interment. “Vice President Dick Cheney served this country for decades,” Stein said. “Anna and I are praying for his family in this time of mourning. May his memory be a blessing.” The state encouraged individuals, businesses, and local governments to join in the gesture, following regulations outlined in the U.S. Flag Code.
Yet, not all responses followed the expected script. President Trump, who had previously responded promptly to the deaths of former presidents Carter and Bush, remained silent more than 24 hours after Cheney’s death was announced. At a Tuesday news conference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed, “The president is aware of the former vice president's passing, and as you saw, flags have been lowered to half staff in accordance with statutory law.” She added that the White House was not involved in the planning of Cheney’s funeral arrangements and did not answer questions about any contact with the Cheney family. The White House referred further inquiries to Leavitt’s comments.
Trump’s silence stood in stark contrast to his usual practice and further highlighted the rift between the former president and the Cheney family. As Axios noted, “His lack of comment furthers Trump's departure from presidential conventions.” The relationship between Cheney and Trump had soured in recent years, with Cheney backing efforts to hold Trump accountable for the January 6 Capitol riots and Trump targeting Liz Cheney in public statements.
For many Americans, Cheney’s life story is a study in contrasts: the small-town boy who became a central figure in global affairs, the public servant whose tenure redefined the power of the vice presidency, and the political leader whose decisions and alliances both shaped and divided the nation. Cheney himself seemed to appreciate the ironies of his journey. In an interview with journalist James Rosen, he recalled speaking at Yale years after directing the Pentagon during the first Gulf War: “I always enjoyed the fact that … I was invited back to Yale to speak to a large gathering of alums in the dining hall where I used to sling hash when I was a freshman.”
As the nation awaits further details on funeral arrangements, Cheney’s death prompts reflection not only on his decades of service but also on the enduring debates over war, peace, power, and principle that defined his career. In the words of George W. Bush, “History will remember him.”
