Dick Cheney Dead: Former U.S. Vice President Was 84

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has died at age 84, his family said on Tuesday, November 4.

Cheney died late Monday, November 3, from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said in a statement.

“Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, died last night, November 3, 2025. He was 84 years old. His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” the statement said.

“For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense and Vice President of the United States,” the statement continued.

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His family concluded, “Dick Cheney was 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 for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

Cheney served two terms as vice president under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, and, alongside Bush, was instrumental in the “war on terror” — which resulted in U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq — following the 9/11 terror attack in New York City in 2001.

The Republican vice president worked his way through the political landscape over many decades before becoming vice president. Under President Gerald Ford, Cheney served as the deputy White House chief of staff from December 1974 to November 1975, when he was promoted to chief of staff.

In 1979, Cheney was elected to represent the state of Wyoming in the House of Representatives. He was reelected five times and held the position until 1989, when he became secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush, the father of his future colleague George W. Bush.

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Cheney had a history of cardiovascular issues, according to a CNN obituary, resulting in multiple heart attacks, the first of which he suffered in 1978 at age 37. He suffered four more heart attacks in 1984, 1988, 2000 and 2010 before undergoing a heart transplant in 2012 at age 74.

“Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift,” Cheney’s office said in a March 2012 statement.

Just over a year after his transplant, in October 2013, Cheney opened up about the procedure in an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CBS’ 60 Minutes.

“When you emerge from that gift of life itself, there’s a tremendous feeling of emotion, but it’s very positive,” the former vice president said. “I think my first words when I came out from under the anesthetic and they said it had worked great was, ‘Hot damn.’ Literally.”

“You wake up every morning with a smile on your face because you’ve got a new day you never expected to have. And there’s a sense of wonderment. Nothing short of magical,” he said at the time.

Cheney is survived by his wife, Lynne, who was his high school sweetheart, their two daughters, Liz and Mary, and seven grandchildren.