Dick Cheney, who died last week at age 84, is said to have been the most powerful vice president in the nation’s history. That was good news to some, not so good to others.

To many he was the “Darth Vader” of the George W. Bush administration, a foreboding presence who helped to initiate and prolong the Iraq War by lying about weapons of mass destruction.

To others he was a patriot. A man who was in the right place at the right time – smart, strong and willing to say and do unpopular things in the service and defense of his country.

Count me in that second group.

As a longtime admirer of his toughness and determination, I mention him today to counteract the unkind and uninformed salvos hurled his way in the aftermath of a life well and forcefully lived.

Cheney had a career almost unma

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