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Reflecting on the life and legacy of Dick Cheney
- Brennan Wills
- Nov 20, 2025
- 4 min read
On November 3, former Vice President Dick Cheney, often called America's most powerful vice president, died at the age of 84. He was laid to rest after a funeral service earlier today.
Richard Cheney was born on January 30, 1941, in Lincoln, Nebraska, nearly ten months and a week before the United States would enter World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His father was a soil conservation agent for the Department of Agriculture and his mother was a 1930s softball star.
He attended Yale University but earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master's degrees in Political Science from the University of Wyoming. He worked as an intern in Rep. William A. Steiger's office, and worked his way to the White House.
From 1975 to 1977, he served as the White House Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford. At the end of the Ford Presidency, Cheney was elected to the House of Representatives, serving on behalf of Wyoming's interests for the next ten years until 1989, and serving as the House Minority Whip briefly.
He served as the Secretary of Defense during George H.W. Bush's presidency, overseeing Operation: Just Cause, regarding the United State's invasion of Panama, and Operation: Desert Storm, regarding the United States' invasions of Kuwait and Iraq during the Gulf War. During the Clinton administration, he stepped aside from politics and worked as the CEO of the oil conglomerate, Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000.
In July of the 2000 Presidential Election, then-Governor George W. Bush of Texas asked Cheney to run with him as his vice presidential candidate for the Republican ticket. In one of America's most contentious and consequential presidential elections, Bush and Cheney won the White House against the Democratic ticket consisting of Vice President Al Gore and Senator Joe Lieberman.
As Vice President, Dick Cheney helped Bush manage dramatic changes in America's political landscape. Following the September 11 Attacks, Bush and Cheney outlined their international intervention policies in the Bush Doctrine and initiated the Global War on Terror, declaring the United States' authority to combat terrorist groups anywhere in the world. He was a proponent of the Iraq War, alleging that Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction and was operating with al-Qaeda. He supported warrantless surveillance by the NSA and endorsed enhanced interrogation tactics, often euphemistic terminology for torture.
These policies garnered Cheney and the Bush administration a lot of criticism, notably that they were pressuring the intelligence community to deliver information consistent with what they claimed was their rationale to the American public for the Iraq War. By the end of his vice presidency, he had an approval rating of 13%. His highest popularity rating hit as high as 68% in 2001 just after the World Trade Center Attacks.
One of Dick Cheney's most-popular moments was in the 2004 Vice Presidential Debate against Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards. At the debate, Cheney called out Edwards on his attendance policy at meetings of the U.S. Senate.
In popular culture, Dick Cheney's vice presidency was portrayed in the Oscar-winning film Vice, starring Christian Bale as the vice president, written and directed by Oscar-winner Adam McKay. In the 2016 movie War Dogs, Jonah Hill's character, after being rescued by U.S. patrol helicopters, yells, "God bless Dick Cheney's America!" as a reference to the level of control that Vice President Cheney had over foreign policy and military affairs.
Post-office, Cheney continued to support Republican candidates and causes. He endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections. However, Cheney began criticizing President Trump following the January 6 United States Capitol Attack, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election with his daughter, Liz.
Cheney's foray into politics inspired his daughter, Liz Cheney, who would go on to serve for 6 years in the same congressional seat that her father held, and serving as chair of the House Republican Conference.
Dick Cheney is most notably survived by his wife and high school sweetheart, Lynne Cheney (84), and his daughter, Liz Cheney (59). Eulogies at his funeral were given by former President George W. Bush, former Representative Liz Cheney, Pete Williams (a former Defense Department spokesperson), Dr. Johnathan Reiner (Cheney's longtime cardiologist), and 3 of his 7 grandchildren.
His funeral notably brought together many politicians from opposite sides of the aisle. Also in attendance were former President Joe Biden (D), former Vice President Kamala Harris (D), former Vice President Mike Pence (R), former Vice President Al Gore (D), and former Vice President Dan Quayle (R). Notably absent were former President Barrack Obama (D) and his wife, Michelle Obama, who reportedly had scheduling conflicts and former President Bill Clinton (D) and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D). The most notable absences were President Donald Trump (R) and Vice President J.D. Vance (R), who were reportedly not invited (Daily Mail).
Dick Cheney was notable for being entrusted with an extraordinary amount of power, completely unprecedented from the vice presidents that came before him. Following the September 11 Attacks, the Bush administration's main policy was to combat the United States' enemies at home or abroad by any means necessary. Dick Cheney was an instrumental figure in operating Washington politics to help the president achieve his goals and secure U.S. military supremacy in some of the most controversial methods and means. Regardless of political standing, Dick Cheney will be remembered as one of the most important political figures not only in the 21st century, but in the history of the nation.
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