Dick Cheney, the 46th vice president of the United States, passed away yesterday at the age of 84, his family has announced.
Cheney died due to "complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease," according to his family. He had a long battle with heart problems, beginning with a heart attack at age 37 in 1978 after two decades of heavy smoking. Cheney had multiple artery surgeries over the decades and a heart transplant in 2012.
From the AP:
The quietly forceful Cheney served father and son presidents, leading the armed forces as defense chief during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush before returning to public life as vice president under Bush's son George W. Bush.
Cheney was, in effect, the chief operating officer of the younger Bush's presidency. He had a hand, often a commanding one, in implementing decisions most important to the president and some of surpassing interest to himself — all while living with decades of heart disease and, post-administration, a heart transplant. Cheney consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance, detention and inquisition employed in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Cheney also worked as Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford, CEO of oil giant Halliburton, and VP of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.
He leaves behind his wife, Lynne, who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and two daughters, including former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.
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