Former US Vice President Richard Cheney dies at 84

• Richard Cheney, former Vice President of the US, passed away on November 3. He was 84.

• Cheney served father and son Presidents, leading the armed forces as defence chief during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush before returning to public life as Vice President under Bush’s son George W. Bush.

• As 46th Vice President, Cheney served for two terms between 2001 and 2009.

• Cheney was one of the driving forces behind the decision to invade Iraq following the September 11, 2001, attacks by al-Qaida on New York and Washington.

• He was among the most outspoken of Bush administration officials warning of the danger from Iraq’s alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were found.

• Richard Bruce Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 30, 1941 and grew up in Casper, Wyoming.

• His career in public service began in 1969 when he joined the Nixon Administration, serving in a number of positions at the Cost of Living Council, at the Office of Economic Opportunity, and within the White House.

• When Gerald Ford assumed the presidency in August 1974, Cheney served on the transition team and later as Deputy Assistant to the President. 

• In November 1975, he was named Assistant to the President and White House Chief of Staff, a position he held throughout the remainder of the Ford Administration.

• As Secretary of Defence from March 1989 to January 1993, Cheney directed two of the largest military campaigns in recent history — Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. 

• For his leadership in the Gulf War, Secretary Cheney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George Bush on July 3, 1991.