Dick Cheney, former Republican vice president and supporter of marriage equality, is dead

Dick Cheney, the architect behind the disastrous Iraq War and vice president under George W. Bush, died at age 84. While conservative on most issues, Cheney did support his lesbian daughter.

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A former member of Congress during Ronald Reagan's presidency, former White House chief of staff under Gerald Ford, and secretary of defense under George HW Bush, the Republican politician died from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement by his family, CNN reports.

“His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” the family statement said. Cheney had several heart attacks through the years.

After the attacks on September 11, 2001, Cheney essentialy took over control of defense policy, which saw U.S. troops enter Afghanistan before the invasion of Iraq under false evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. As the U.S. took prisoners of war, Cheney defended torture against detainees — years later, he'd say he'd do it again.

His daughter Mary is a lesbian, and Cheney said in 2004 that states should be left to decide on marriage equality as George W. Bush supported a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage — which would go further than the Defense of Marriage Act, which federally recognized only different-sex marriages.

“Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it’s an issue our family is very familiar with,” Cheney said, according to NBC News. “With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone. ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.

“The question that comes up with the issue of marriage is what kind of official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government? Historically, that’s been a relationship that has been handled by the states. The states have made that fundamental decision of what constitutes a marriage."

While still a staunch conservative until his death, Cheney called Donald Trump a "coward" and a threat to the U.S. He voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, CNN reports.

“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in an ad for his daughter's, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, failed reelection campaign in 2022.

“He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.”

This story is developing. Check back for updates.