Dick Cheney — November 3, 2025

Few American political figures of the past half-century shaped national policy as forcefully as Dick Cheney. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1941, he climbed the ladder of Washington power with rare patience, serving as White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford, as a longtime congressman from Wyoming, and as Secretary of Defense during the Gulf War in 1991. By the time George W. Bush selected him as a running mate in 2000, he was already a familiar face to anyone who followed national affairs.

As the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009, Cheney became one of the most influential vice presidents in modern history, particularly in the years following the September 11 attacks. Whatever one’s politics, his role in shaping the post-9/11 era is impossible to overlook. Dick Cheney passed away at the age of 84, a defining figure of an extraordinary period in American life.