The 'forever war' Cheney championed may have propelled Trump to officepublished at 16:59 GMT

16:59 GMT

John Sudworth
North America Correspondent

Dick Cheney stood at the pinnacle of an era in Republican politics that now seems like ancient history.

The high-water mark of the neo-conservative movement came after the attacks on the Twin Towers with a response based on a massive projection of military might.

Tyrants would be felled, democracies bombed into being and the world made safer for Americans, or so the argument went.

With hindsight, even Cheney admitted that the invasion of Iraq had been based on a false prospectus - there were no weapons of mass destruction.

And yet he continued to justify the policies of that era - an extraordinary attack, he argued, had demanded an extraordinary response.

But as public weariness grew over the ongoing conflicts - with little clear peace-dividend to show - even the American right began to question the almost two decades-long cost in both blood and treasure.

Fast forward today and it is with even more venom than their counterparts on the left that Trumpian politicians now rage against the ideals of neo-conservatism.

In later life, Dick Cheney may have become one of Donald Trump's fiercest critics.

But is no small irony that the "forever war" he helped to start, in part at least, helped to propel the "America-first" president into office.

We're ending our live coverage for now. Thanks for joining us.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
US reporter

Image source, Kristofer Goldsmith

Kristofer Goldsmith was a high school student in Long Island, New York, during the 11 September 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Cheney was a key architect of the "war on terror" that followed and championed invading Iraq after US intelligence alleged the country was holding weapons of mass destruction.

After graduating, Goldsmith enlisted in the US Army and was deployed to Iraq in 2005 for 12 months.

But Goldsmith says he quickly became "disillusioned" by the war.

Ultimately, the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction proved faulty and Goldsmith says he found ordinary Iraqis strongly opposed to the US presence. US forces were accused of torturing and killing Iraqi civilians and destabilising the region. Thousands of American soldiers died in Iraq during the war, which Goldsmith describes as "unjust".

He left his time in Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder and "moral injury," he tells the BBC.

"Most people recognise Dick Cheney as someone who created a massive problem that ended up in hundreds of thousands of deaths," he says. "I can't say that any veteran that I know would shed a tear over Dick Cheney."

Image source, Getty Images

As we’ve been reporting, Dick Cheney was a key architect of the “war on terror”, that saw the US invade Iraq in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Reacting to news of Cheney’s death, Iraqi writer and New York university associate professor Sinan Antoon says the lasting legacy of the former US vice-president’s action in Iraq is “chaos and terrorism”.

“In a different world Dick Cheney would definitely be a war criminal and would be standing trial,” Antoon tells the BBC’s Newshour programme.

The Iraqi writer tells the BBC that the Iraq war “destroyed the infrastructure” of the country, as Saddam Hussein was removed from power by force.

And, although Cheney continued to justify his actions on Iraq, Anoon says the decision to put US boots on the ground subsequently “opened Iraq to international terrorism”.

Image source, Getty Images

We're hearing from Senate majority leader John Thune.

"Dick Cheney was a lifelong public servant who believed very deeply in our country and brought his considerable knowledge and intelligence to its service," he says.

"As secretary of defence and later as vice-president he played a key role in shaping policy on many of the most consequential issues to this day."

He also remembers Cheney's love for the outdoors and spending time in the mountains in his home state of Nebraska. "I enjoyed having him in South Dakota and showing off some of what our state has to offer," he says.

Thune was elected as a senator whilst Cheney was vice-president.

Image source, Reuters

Terry Holt, a former Bush-Cheney spokesperson who worked on their campaign in 2004, has spoken to BBC 5 Live about Dick Cheney's legacy, calling him "a reliable global leader".

Holt says he remembered him as "someone who had a strategic mind and who understood how the intricacies of the federal government worked".

He says this allowed him to "put Bush in a position to stand this country up for the global war on terror".

Holt adds that "the Cheneys wouldn't be welcome in today's Republican party."

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has just paid tribute to Dick Cheney during a press briefing.

"Scripture is very clear. We give honour where honour is due," he says.

"As you know Dick Cheney served as vice-president. He served as secretary of defence. He served as congressman, of course, in Wyoming, and as the youngest chief of staff to any president in the history of the country," Johnson says.

"So the honour is certainly due to him and our prayers go out to the family."

Johnson says that even when there are political differences "you have to honour the sacrifices and the service they gave to their country."

Image source, Getty Images

Condoleezza Rice, a former secretary of state under George W Bush, credits Cheney for helping to protect the US "after the dark days of 9/11."

In a lengthy tribute on X, Rice says that she will remember Cheney as a "mentor and a friend".

"He was an inspiring presence and mentor who taught me a great deal about public service.

I will remember his toughness but also his sense of humor.

"He was indefatigable in his determination to defend this country and patriotic to his core," she writes.

Rice served with Cheney through two administrations, firstly under George Bush Sr and later under the younger Bush.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

It's still early at the White House, which is largely empty so far today.

Just a short while ago, two flags at the White House were lowered to half-staff to mark the death of Dick Cheney.

We've still not heard anything from President Trump.

The two men had a complex relationship and Cheney repeatedly made his distaste for Trump clear - using words such as "threat" and "coward" in statement after statement over the years.

This was particularly true after Cheney's daughter, Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, became involved in investigating the Capitol riots and drew Trump's ire.

Nonetheless, Cheney was a hugely influential picture in Republican politics, and it would be surprising if Trump did not address his death.

At the moment, there are no public appearances on the president's schedule today, although Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is slated to hold a briefing at 13:00 EDT (18:00 GMT).

Cheney: The ultimate Washington insiderpublished at 15:19 GMT

15:19 GMT

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent

Dick Cheney was the ultimate Washington insider. A man who believed in a powerful executive and a powerful presidency.

He served in both Bush presidencies - as vice-president to George W Bush and defense secretary to his father George H Bush.

He was involved in both Iraq wars which cemented his legacy as a neoconservative Republican. His critics said he had a vision of expanding American dominance through the guise of spreading democracy, using military intervention while ignoring international law. The Iraq invasion in 2003 was seen as an example of that.

In recent years, his daughter former Congresswoman Liz Cheney took centre stage in her battle against President Trump. Cheney himself spoke out against Trump and voted for Kamala Harris.

To some, he was seen as a principled Republican and defender of democracy. But to many others, they saw an establishment politician who had no right trying to occupy a moral higher ground.

In 2006, he shot a Texan lawyer by mistake when they were both on a hunting expedition in South Texas. Harry Whittington survived but suffered a minor heart attack due to a pellet near his heart.

Dick Cheney was twice a VP but never became president.

The closest he got was acting president for a short period in 2002 and 2007 when the president of the time underwent a colonoscopy. He famously signed a document to his grandchildren to mark the moment.

It’s believed to be the only letter ever signed by a serving acting president.

Image source, Reuters

"He was a bare-knuckled politician," Steve Chill, a US veteran and Republican campaign volunteer in Virginia, tells Reuters news agency.

"Not like that's a bad thing," he adds. "It's good to see some Republicans that have some bare knuckle brawling capability."

But, he says these qualities also meant that Cheney was "pretty much vilified right off the bat" by Democrats.

Image source, Reuters

Meanwhile James Davis, a voter in Virginia heading to the polls on election day, says reaction to Cheney's legacy "is going to be mixed".

"He was one of those people who was really polarising," he explains, citing how the former Republican vice-president pivoted to becoming "anti-Trump" later in life.

Another Republican campaign volunteer Steve Walters, though, insists Cheney was a "patriot".

"I think he loved this country. I think he was a a stalwart Republican and he'll he'll be missed," he says.

Cheney is best known as one of the most powerful vice-presidents in history, but his career started long before that.

In the 1970s, he served as President Gerald Ford's White House chief of staff, before spending a decade in the House of Representatives.

President George H W Bush made him defence secretary in 1989 during the first Gulf War and the US invasion of Panama.

It was in 2001 that he became vice-president under George W Bush.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

We have just received this statement from ex-US President George W Bush:

"The death of Richard B. Cheney is a loss to the nation and a sorrow to his friends. Laura and I will remember Dick Cheney for the decent, honorable man that he was. History will remember him as among the finest public servants of his generation - a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held.

"As a young White House aide and chief of staff, a Congressman, a Secretary of Defense, and my Vice President, Dick earned the confidence and high opinion of five presidents. I asked him to join my ticket in 2000 after first enlisting him to help me find the best running mate.

"In our long discussions about the qualities a vice president should have - deep experience, mature judgment, character, loyalty - I realized that Dick Cheney was the one I needed. I'm still grateful that he was at my side for the eight years that followed. Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges. I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best. He held to his convictions and prioritized the freedom and security of the American people.

"For those two terms in office, and throughout his remarkable career, Dick Cheney's service always reflected credit on the country he loved. Dick's love for America was second only to his family. Laura and I have shared our deepest sympathies with Vice President Cheney's wife Lynne and their daughters and granddaughters of whom he was so deeply proud. We are praying for Lynne, Liz, Mary, and the Cheney family as they honor a great man."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Cheney was a long-standing advocate of Nato expansion into Eastern Europe - notably backing Ukraine’s bid for membership in 2008.

"We believe in the right of men and women to live without the threat of tyranny, economic blackmail or military invasion or intimidation," Vice-President Cheney said in Kyiv at the time., external

He believed that Nato had to remain the foundation of European security relationships.

It’s a contrasting position to the Trump administration, which has refused to endorse Ukraine’s admission - effectively blocking its entry to the defence bloc.

While Trump has more recently strengthened his support of Nato, he sowed doubt over America’s long-term commitment during his 2024 election campaign - including by suggesting the US would not protect Nato allies failing to spend enough on defence.

His comments led Liz Cheney to attack him: "No sane American President would encourage Putin to attack our Nato allies."

A dominant figure, defined by two wars in Iraqpublished at 13:09 GMT

13:09 GMT

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

For a man who never became president, who never even sought the presidency, Dick Cheney was a dominant figure in American politics.

For decades he was a behind-scenes player in Republican circles. He served as President Gerald Ford’s White House chief of staff in the 1970s and an influential member of Congress from Wyoming during the 1980s.

It was his two roles in the spotlight, however – as the architect of the Gulf War as George HW Bush’s secretary of defence and as George W Bush’s vice-president 10 years later – that cemented his place in history.

During the younger Bush’s administration, he singlehandedly turned his role as vice-president from what was traditionally an empty role, with little formal power, into a de facto deputy presidency, overseeing American foreign policy and national security in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

His unflinching, unapologetic willingness to wield power made him a villain for much of the left and a hero on the right – at least for a time.

The difficulty and unpopularity of the Iraq War, however, led to a falling out between him and Bush – and, years later, a renunciation of his brand of internationalist policies by the next Republican president, Donald Trump.

In his final years, Cheney would become a persona non grata in his own party, which had been reshaped in Trump’s image.

His daughter, who had followed him into Congress, was ousted from office for her criticism of Trump. And in an odd final twist, his own Trump criticism – and 2024 endorsement of Democrat Kamala Harris for president - would win him praise from some on the left who had once denounced him decades earlier.

Here's the moment from 2015 that a marble bust of Dick Cheney was unveiled in the Capitol in Washington DC.

Bush joked that he had returned to Washington "to find my vice-president getting busted in the Capitol".

Watch the moment below.

Image source, Reuters

As we've reported, Dick Cheney was a giant of the Republican Party - serving as US congressman, defence secretary, and vice-president.

But, to some, he will also be remembered for a a quail hunting trip on a Texas ranch in February 2006.

The vice-president accidentally sprayed companion Harry Whittington with shotgun pellets while trying to hit the birds, leading to Whittington being flown to hospital to be placed in intensive care.

Whittington was shot in the face, neck, and torso. He survived, but around 30 pieces of shot stayed in his body.

"All I remember was the smell of burning powder," he told the Washington Post in 2010., external "And then I passed out."

Days after the incident Cheney took the blame for the shooting during an interview with Fox News.

"It’s not Harry's fault. Ultimately, I'm the guy that pulled the trigger and shot my friend."

Richard Bruce Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on 30 January 1941.

His father worked for the US Department of Agriculture, while his mother had been a successful softball player in the 1930s.

When he was 13, his family moved to Casper, an oil town in Wyoming. In 1959, Cheney entered Yale on a scholarship, but failed to graduate.

He confessed that he fell in with "some kindred souls, young men like me who were not adjusting very well [to Yale] and shared my opinion that beer was one of the essentials of life".

He went on to gain a Master's degree in political science from the University of Wyoming.

In his early 20s, Cheney was twice convicted of drink driving. The incidents focused his mind on the future.

"I was headed down a bad road if I continued on that course," he said.

In 1959, when he became eligible to be drafted for military service, Cheney obtained a string of deferments, first so that he could finish his college course and then when his new wife, Lynne became pregnant.

Cheney's first taste of Washington came in 1968 when he worked for William Steiger, a young Republican representative from Wisconsin.

When Gerald Ford made Donald Rumsfeld his defence secretary in 1975, Cheney found himself chief of staff at the White House. He was just 34 years old.

Image source, Getty Images

As our previous post explained, Vice-President Cheney was a key architect of the US "war on terror", including the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In a March 2002 news conference in London, during the build-up to the invasion, the BBC's Andrew Marr asked Cheney for evidence that Saddam Hussein had the "capability" to threaten Western Europe and the US.

Watch his response below.

Image source, PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images

Dick Cheney was a key part of President George W Bush’s "war on terror", including the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

In the lead-up to the invasion, Cheney said that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed so-called weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons were never found during the military campaign.

Cheney also repeatedly claimed there were links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, the terror group led by Osama bin Laden that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said the attackers would incur the "full wrath" of American military might.

"The fact is we know that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were heavily involved with terror," Cheney said in 2006., external

In 2005, Cheney warned of "decades of patient effort" in the war on terror, warning "it will be resisted by those whose only hope for power is through the spread of violence".

His key role in the campaign left him with a controversial political legacy, after the US took years to extricate itself from its costly war in Iraq.

Two months before last year's US presidential election, Dick Cheney staged a major intervention: announcing that he would vote for the Democrats' Kamala Harris.

He said there had "never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump", adding: "He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him."

In return, Trump called Cheney "irrelevant RINO" - an acronym which stands for "Republican in name only".

The former VP's daughter, Liz Cheney - a former Republican lawmaker - had already given her backing to Harris.

She served on the House select committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riots, and was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach former President Trump after the incident.

Image source, Get