Former Vice President Dick Cheney (R), who served under President George W. Bush and was once considered the most powerful man in Washington, died on Nov. 3 at the age 84.
Survived by his wife Lynne Cheney and daughters former Rep. Liz Cheney and Mary Cheney, the longtime politician’s family said he died of complications related to pneumonia and heart disease.
Cheney’s death closes the chapter on one of the most controversial and consequential figures in American political history, a man whose influence reshaped U.S. foreign policy, tested constitutional limits, and some note, deepened mistrust between Black America and the nation’s leadership.
As the architect of the Iraq War, Cheney’s hand guided America into one of its most devastating military conflicts, a war justified by false claims of weapons of mass destruction that left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. He also fiercely defended the Bush administration’s use of torture, warrantless surveillance, and the global network of secret prisons that became known as the “dark side” of U.S. foreign policy.
For many Black Americans, Cheney’s legacy is not one of statesmanship, but of cold detachment from humanity at home and abroad. His political posture often ignored the suffering of marginalized communities, whether through domestic neglect or the moral blindness of policies abroad.
In 2004, during a vice-presidential debate, Cheney drew sharp criticism when he appeared unaware that Black women faced the highest death rates from HIV/AIDS in the country.
“I have not heard those numbers,” he said when told Black women were dying from AIDS at 13 times the rate of white women.
Lawmakers like Reps. Bobby Rush and Barbara Lee called his comments “insensitive and out of touch” with Black America, arguing that his ignorance reflected an administration that “did not have a clue” about the communities most affected by the epidemic.
His relationship with communities of color only worsened with time.
Reports later surfaced of Cheney telling a racist joke at a private event about having to “dance with an Indian squaw” as a punishment in a hunting contest.
When confronted by Native American policy analyst Philip S. Deloria, Cheney brushed off the exchange, insisting, “You have to understand, that is the system in Lander.”
Deloria later wrote that Cheney “cowered before the racist imperatives of Lander, Wyoming,” calling the former vice president’s excuse a disservice to his state and the country.
To many, Cheney embodied an America that rarely saw itself through the eyes of its victims. His unflinching pursuit of war and power, and his indifference toward race and inequality, left wounds still visible today.
The “War on Terror” that he helped lead also entrenched systemic biases that saw Muslim Americans profiled at airports, Black and brown soldiers sent disproportionately into combat, and urban communities drained of resources to fund endless conflict.
Despite some of his racially insensitive acts and comments over his career, in his final years, Cheney turned his ire toward President Donald Trump, calling him “the greatest threat to our republic.”
He publicly backed former Vice President Kamala Harris for president in 2024.
Harris took to social media to remember Cheney’s contributions.
“I am saddened to learn of the passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Vice President Cheney was a devoted public servant, from the halls of Congress to many positions of leadership in multiple presidential administrations,” she said about her fellow former vice president. “His passing marks the loss of a figure who, with a strong sense of dedication, gave so much of his life to the country he loved.”