Former US Vice President dies aged 84

Washington: Dick Cheney, the fiercely assertive conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history and a leading proponent of the invasion of Iraq, has died at the age of 84.

The immensely powerful Cheney served father and son presidents; He led the armed forces as chief of defense during the Persian Gulf War under President George H. W. Bush and returned to public life as vice president under Bush’s son, George W. Bush.

Cheney was actually the chief operating officer of the young Bush’s presidency. He often had a commanding share in the execution of the decisions most important to the President, and some of which concerned him greatly; He accomplished all of this while living with decades of heart disease and a post-management heart transplant. Cheney has consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance, detention, and investigation used in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

He became a target of President Donald Trump years after leaving office, especially after his daughter Liz Cheney became a prominent Republican critic and watchdog of Trump’s desperate attempts to stay in power following his election defeat and his actions in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.