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Celebrity Deaths: 2025’s Fallen Stars
The United States has lost a key political figure.
Richard "Dick" B. Cheney, the 46th vice president of the United States under Republican George W. Bush, has died on Nov. 3, his family confirmed. He was 84.
"His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed," the statement shared with NBC News read. "The former Vice President died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease."
Of his public legacy, his family wrote, “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."
Cheney's loved ones also reflected on the personal legacy he was leaving within their family.
"Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country," they wrote, "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."
His family concluded, "We are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man."
Cheney's passing from complications from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease comes after years of being plagued by coronary problems throughout his life, per The New York Times, including experiencing five heart attacks between 1978 and 2010. He'd worn a device to regulate his heartbeat since 2001 before undergoing a successful heart transplant in 2012.
William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
While the Nebraska native's political career began in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979, followed by four years serving as Secretary of Defense beginning in 1989 under George H. W. Bush, he is perhaps remembered most universally for his tenure as VP to George W. Bush.
Widely regarded as the most powerful vice president, Cheney acted as Bush's running mate through to successful presidential campaigns, acting as the President's most influential adviser during the "war on terror."
The political era—which saw the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq following the September 11th attacks—was not without controversy, especially after a Senate Intelligence Committee report revealed some of the enhanced interrogation tactics employed by the CIA.
Brent Lewis/The Denver Post via Getty Images
As for Cheney, he told Fox News in 2014, "I think what needed to be done was done. I think we were perfectly justified in doing it. And I'd do it again in a minute."
But while the former vice president was a staunch Republican throughout his decades-long political career, in Sept. 2024 he announced he'd be straying from party lines and voting for Kamala Harris instead of Donald Trump.
“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him," Cheney alleged in a statement at the time. "He can never be trusted with power again."
“As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our constitution," he added. "That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
(NBC News and E! News are both part of NBCUniversal.)
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