Dick Cheney, vice president under Bush and one of Trump's greatest enemies, has died

Dick Cheney, one of the most influential and controversial vice presidents in the country's modern history and one of Donald Trump's greatest enemies, died at 84 from complications stemming from pneumonia and heart and vascular disease, his family said Tuesday.

A key figure in Republican politics for more than four decades, Cheney was the architect of some of the most far-reaching and controversial decisions of the post-9/11 era. As vice president to George W. Bush between 2001 and 2009, he played a central role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In his later years, Cheney distanced himself from the Republican Party over his frontal opposition to Donald Trump, whom he called "the greatest threat to the republic." Two months before last year's US presidential election, staged a major intervention: announcing that he would vote for the Democrats' Kamala Harris.

His daughter, Liz Cheney, followed in his political footsteps and lost her seat in Congress after voting for the impeachment against Trump. She also endorsed Harris for the 2024 election.

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1941, Richard Bruce Cheney grew up in Wyoming, where he began his political career. He served six terms as a congressman for that state and later as secretary of defense under George H. W. Bush, leading Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Known for his reserved style and political pragmatism, Cheney faced serious heart problems throughout his life, surviving several heart attacks and receiving a heart transplant in 2012. Despite his health problems, he remained active as a writer and commentator, vigorously defending his decisions.

Remembered by his allies as a determined public servant and by his critics as a symbol of U.S. foreign policy excesses, Dick Cheney leaves a legacy as influential as it is divisive. He is survived by his wife, Lynne, daughters Liz and Mary, and seven grandchildren.