BREAKING: Former Vice President Dick Cheney dead at 84

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has passed away at the age of 84. Cheney, served under President George W. Bush, was in office during the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and aided in crafting the war in Iraq, begun in 2003.

"His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed," said his family in a statement. 

The cause of death has been reported as complications from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease. Cheney had heart complications throughout his life, including a heart transplant in 2012 and five heart attacks between 1978 and 2010.

Cheney had been both a defense secretary under Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, and congressman. As vice president, he was considered one of the most powerful to hold that role. 

While he was a staunch member of the Republican Party in his political life, he was also opposed to Donald Trump and in the lead up to the 2024 election announced that he would be casting his vote for Kamala Harris. He believed that Trump was a danger to democracy.

"We have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution," he said at the time. His daughter, Liz Cheney, held a similar view. As a Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, she was one of only two Republicans to serve on the January 6 select committee as they attempted to prove that Trump had incited an insurrection.

Cheney was a big proponent of the war in Iraq following 9/11 and made that case to the president at the time, who heeded his advice and launched that attack. Bush's presidency also ushered in the Patriot Act, which allows for increased surveillance with limited judicial overview for the purpose of combatting terrorism.

Cheney advocated for increased presidential powers, we well, and worked to expand the powers of the executive office.