Former Vice President Dick Cheney at his home in McLean, Virginia. on Oct. 29, 2011.

WASHINGTON ‒ Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful vice presidents in United States history, a chief architect of the war in Iraq and a member of an old Republican Party guard that is quickly fading away, died Monday night.

Cheney, whose death was confirmed by a statement from his family, was 84. The cause was complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, the statement said.

Cheney helped lead the push under President George W. Bush to invade Iraq based on intelligence ‒ later proven wrong ‒ that Saddam Hussein had amassed weapons of mass destruction.

"Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges," Bush said in a statement. "I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best."

The Iraq war took the lives of an estimated 200,000 Iraqi civilians and 4,492 U.S. servicemembers, and cost more than $700 billion.

McConnell lauds Cheney as ‘steady counsel’ in war against terror

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longtime former leader of Senate Republicans, mourned Cheney’s death after “decades of deeply patriotic and highly capable service” to the country.

McConnell credited Cheney’s “steady counsel” to President George W. Bush and “sheer force of will” after the Sept. 11 attacks with making the country safer.

“As grave threats to our security continue to loom, his commitment to American leadership will remain a lesson,” McConnell said in a statement.

– Bart Jansen

Thune commends Cheney for ‘key role’ in shaping policy

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, opened the Senate session Nov. 4, saying he was saddened to learn of Dick Cheney’s death.

“Dick was a lifelong public servant who believed very deeply in our country and brought his considerable knowledge and intelligence to its service,” Thune said. “As the secretary of defense and later as vice president, he played a key role in shaping policy on many of the most consequential issues of the day.”

He noted that Cheney cared "very deeply" about the country and " brought his considerable knowledge and intelligence to its service."

Here's the speech:

– Bart Jensen and Francesca Chambers

Bush family responds to Cheney's passing

Former President George W. Bush called the death of his former vice president "a loss to the nation and a sorrow to his friends."

"Laura and I will remember Dick Cheney for the decent, honorable man that he was. History will remember him as among the finest public servants of his generation – a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held," Bush said in a statement.

Bush noted that Cheney "earned the confidence and high opinion of five presidents," and recalled the conversations he had with Cheney when he sought his help in seeking a VP. They discussed "the qualities a vice president should have – deep experience, mature judgment, character, loyalty – I realized that Dick Cheney was the one I needed."

Will flags be lowered to half-staff?

The White House lowered its flags to half-staff on Nov. 4 in recognition of former Vice President Dick Cheney's death.

President Donald Trump has an antagonistic relationship with the Cheney family and has not commented of the Republican's passing on the morning on Nov. 4.

– Francesca Chambers

'I was right about Iraq'

Would the Iraq War, arguably one of the most disastrous and avoidable in American history, have happened without Vice President Dick Cheney's involvement?

Historians may quibble, but a review of Cheney’s actions and statements appears to be a definitive no. Cheney was both a chief architect of the war and its most influential advocate in selling his boss, then-President George W. Bush, on the idea of a preemptive attack to topple Saddam Hussein and occupy the oil-rich former U.S. ally.It began with a two-day meeting of Bush’s national security team at the president’s retreat at Camp David, Maryland, just days after the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Read more about what happened next.

“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction,” Cheney told the assembled veterans. “There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.”By the fall of 2002, Cheney was forcefully leading the administration in asserting that Saddam not only had weapons of mass destruction but that he might share them with terrorists.

Cheney consistently pushed that intelligence, which was later proven to be faulty and at times politically contrived.– Josh Meyer

Key career highlights

From his early days in Washington politics to his stunning recent split from Trump-era Republicans, Cheney's life and career included an impressive range of leadership roles.

Cheney served under Donald Rumsfeld in the Nixon White House in the late 1960s. After Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal, Rumsfeld became President Gerald Ford's top assistant, and Cheney Rumsfeld's deputy.He would go on to represent Wyoming in Congress and was re-elected five times. Cheney was later Defense secretary from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush.Cheney's legacy is perhaps most defined by his actions in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York City and Washington. Earlier in 2001, Cheney took office as vice president under President George W. Bush. Going beyond other vice presidents before him, Cheney played an active role in shaping policy and strategy and was a key architect in the decision that would shape the Bush's legacy.

– Jeanine Santucci

'Big Time' to his president, 'Darth Vader' to his enemies

Cheney was a hawkish, deeply partisan figure with broad knowledge of government and few qualms about the use of executive power. Bush nicknamed him "Vice" and "Big Time." His opponents called him "Darth Vader."

With a wealth of experience far eclipsing that of Bush, a former Texas governor, Cheney's critics portrayed him as the driving force behind controversial security policies after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. These included "enhanced interrogation techniques" of detainees seized during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, which investigators said amounted to torture.

"He held to his convictions and prioritized the freedom and security of the American people," Bush said.

Tapped by Bush as his 2000 running mate for his decades of Washington experience, Cheney was targeted by Bush's critics for the enormous role he played in shaping foreign policy.

A Republican congressman from Wyoming in the 1980s and Defense secretary for the elder President George H.W. Bush, Cheney's first prominent role in Washington was as deputy chief of staff and later White House chief of staff for President Gerald Ford.

"As a young White House aide and chief of staff, a Congressman, a Secretary of Defense, and my Vice President, Dick earned the confidence and high opinion of five presidents," Bush said. "I asked him to join my ticket in 2000 after first enlisting him to help me find the best running mate. In our long discussions about the qualities a vice president should have – deep experience, mature judgment, character, loyalty – I realized that Dick Cheney was the one I needed."

In prominent GOP roles, Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz opposed Donald Trump

After his two terms as vice president ended in 2009, Cheney became one of the nation's most prominent Republicans to oppose Donald Trump. Along with his daughter, Liz Cheney, a former congresswoman, Dick Cheney said that he voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

"There has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Cheney said before the election, which Trump won. Cheney supported Trump's successful 2016 campaign.

There was no immediate comment from the White House on Cheney's death.

What happened in Dick Cheney’s hunting accident?

Around sundown on Feb. 11, 2006, then-Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot his hunting partner, prominent Austin attorney Harry Whittington, while searching for quail on a Texas ranch.

As a covey of quail was flushed from a field, Whittington inadvertently got too close and failed to announce his presence. Cheney fired a 28-gauge shotgun, peppering Whittington’s face, neck and chest with birdshot.

The hunting accident, first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, made national headlines and gained renewed attention amid the 2018 release of the movie "Vice," in which Christian Bale portrays Cheney.

– N'Dea Yancey-Bragg

Cheney's cause of death: complications of pneumonia, cardiac and vascular disease

Cheney died due to complications of pneumonia as well as cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement released by the former vice president’s family.

His wife Lynne Cheney, daughters Liz Cheney and Mary Cheney, and other loved ones were with him when he died, the statement said.

His family reflected on his decades of public service and his private life as a father and grandfather in the statement confirming his death.

“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,” his family said in a statement. “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's evolution: From college dropout to most powerful vice president in American history

He was the most powerful and the most controversial vice president in American history.

Richard Bruce Cheney was a laconic one-time college dropout who found his place in Washington, moving to the capital as a congressional fellow and rising in short order to become White House chief of staff for President Gerald Ford, a Wyoming congressman in the House Republican leadership and wartime secretary of Defense for the elder President George H.W. Bush.

Then, for eight years as vice president for the younger President George W. Bush, Cheney acted as no second-in-command had before — directing the presidential transition, devising policy on energy and leading a concerted administration effort to restore and expand executive authority from what he saw as congressional incursion. Read more.

Follow along for live updates as the nation marks Cheney's death.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dick Cheney, powerful VP who pushed Iraq invasion, dies at 84. Live updates.

Reporting by Joey Garrison and Susan Page, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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