Former President George W. Bush and other members of the Bush family honored former Vice President Dick Cheney after his family announced his death at age 84 on Tuesday, Nov 4. Cheney, who served as VP under Bush from 2001 to 2009, died on Monday night from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.

Cheney is often revered as one of the most powerful vice presidents in United States history and is credited as one of the chief architects of the war in Iraq.

In a statement shared by the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the former president called the death of Cheney "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," he said.

Cheney was the 'one I needed,' Bush says

Bush's statement went on to praise Cheney for earning the "high opinion" of five presidents in his time as a White House aide and chief of staff, congressman, secretary of defense and vice president.

"Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges. I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best," Bush said, adding that he realized before running for his first term that Cheney was the "one I needed" as a VP. "For those two terms in office, and throughout his remarkable career, Dick Cheney’s service always reflected credit on the country he loved."

"Dick’s love for America was second only to his family. Laura and I have shared our deepest sympathies with Vice President Cheney’s wife Lynne and their daughters and grandchildren of whom he was so deeply proud," the statement concluded.

Other Bush family members offer condolences

Former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, shared a statement on X, saying, "RIP Vice President Cheney. A wonderful person and a great patriot."

Jenna Bush Hager, TV personality and daughter of George W. and Laura Bush, said on the Today show that her thoughts were with Lynne and Cheney's daughters, Mary and Liz.

"As a daughter of a politician, as a granddaughter of a politician, I just am thinking of his daughters and who they are missing, which is not necessarily a man who, you know, cast votes, but rather a man who raised them," said Bush Hager. "So I'm thinking of Mary and Liz this morning, who I'm going to reach out to as well, just to send my love, and I know my parents are thinking the very same."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George W. Bush, family pay tribute to former VP, 'great patriot' Dick Cheney

Reporting by Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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