Former United States Vice President, Dick Cheney, has died at the age of 84.

His family announced his passing in a statement on Tuesday, saying he died from complications of pneumonia as well as cardiac and vascular disease.

“His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” the statement read. “Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honour, love, kindness, and fly fishing.”

Cheney, a leading Republican figure, served as Vice President under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009.

He was widely regarded as one of the most powerful holders of the office in modern times and a driving force behind the Bush administration’s “war on terror,” including the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

He was one of the most vocal advocates for the war, warning that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction—claims that were later proven unfounded.

Despite widespread criticism, Cheney maintained that the invasion was justified based on intelligence available at the time, citing the removal of Saddam Hussein as a positive outcome.

Before becoming Vice President, Cheney served as Defence Secretary under President George H. W. Bush, overseeing US military operations during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Earlier in his career, he held key roles under President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford.

In the Bush administration, Cheney expanded the power and influence of the vice presidency, assembling a strong national security team that often rivalled the authority of other senior officials.

He clashed with Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice and strongly defended the use of controversial interrogation methods—including waterboarding—on terrorism suspects.

Those practices were later condemned as torture by the US Senate Intelligence Committee and the United Nations.

After leaving office, Cheney remained a vocal figure within Republican politics.

He became a sharp critic of former President Donald Trump, particularly after his daughter, Liz Cheney, emerged as one of Trump’s leading Republican opponents following the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021.

“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in an advert supporting his daughter’s re-election bid.

In a surprising move, Cheney later declared that he would support Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Cheney had battled heart problems for much of his life, suffering his first heart attack at 37 and undergoing a heart transplant in 2012.