Republican leaders and lawmakers, including former President George W. Bush, shared their condolences on Tuesday following the death of former Vice President Cheney.
Cheney, 84, died Monday night from complications of pneumonia, and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said in a statement.
Bush characterized Cheney’s death as “a loss to the nation and a sorrow to his friends.”
“[Former first lady Laura Bush] and I will remember Dick Cheney for the decent, honorable man that he was,” Bush said in a Tuesday statement. “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.”
The former president said he asked Cheney to join his campaign “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,” Bush continued. “I’m still grateful that he was at my side for the eight years that followed.”
Bush “counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best,” the former president said.Â
“He held to his convictions and prioritized the freedom and security of the American people,” the former president added. “For those two terms in office, and throughout his remarkable career, Dick Cheney’s service always reflected credit on the country he loved.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) first met Cheney “when we were members of Congress together and he was in the House Republican leadership,” the governor said in a statement. “He was thoughtful, steady and an advocate for his beloved Wyoming.” Â
“Our nation got to see his leadership up close when he served as U.S. Secretary of Defense and directed our military strategy in Operation Desert Storm,” DeWine continued. “Vice President Cheney served his country faithfully in every office he held. He will be missed.”
Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), the chair of the House Republican Conference, wrote in a post on the social platform X that as the U.S. mourns Cheney’s death, “we honor his devotion to serving our nation.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) praised Cheney as “a constant champion for a dominant military, strong and confident American leadership, free markets and individual liberty” in a post on X.
Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) were also among those who shared their condolences.
Scott wrote in an X post that Cheney “dedicated his life to serving our nation.”
“He was known for his love of his family and his country,” Scott continued. “Ann and I are praying for the Cheney family and all who knew him during this time.”
Cheney “devoted much of his life to serving the United States — from Congress to the Pentagon to the White House,” Husted said.
“He had an unwavering commitment to our nation’s security, strength and founding values,” he wrote on X.
In his own post, Marshall wrote that Cheney “spent a lifetime in service to our nation and lead our country through some of its most challenging times.”
Cheney was first elected to represent Wyoming in Congress in 1978, going on to serve as House Republican Conference chair and House minority whip. Before that, he served as former President Gerald Ford’s chief of staff.
He then served as former President George H.W. Bush’s secretary of defense from 1989 to 1993 before being elected alongside the younger Bush as vice president in 2001.
Cheney is considered one of the most influential vice presidents in modern U.S. history. He helped lead the country’s “war on terror” after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. But in the years that followed, he and several other Bush administration officials faced sharp criticism over false claims of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction following the U.S. invasion in 2003.
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