WASHINGTON —Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful and polarizing vice president of U.S. history died at the age of 84.
On social media Kansas lawmakers shared thoughts on Cheney.
Cheney died Monday night due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement from family spokesman Jeremy Adler.
The quietly forceful Cheney served father and son presidents, leading the armed forces as defense 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.
Years after leaving office, he became a target of Trump, especially after daughter Liz Cheney became the leading Republican critic and examiner of Trump’s desperate attempts to stay in power after his election defeat and his actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a floor speech said Cheney was “a lifelong public servant who believed very deeply in our country.”
Sen. John Barrasso, the no. 2 in Senate Republican leadership, who like Cheney is from Wyoming, called him “a towering figure who helped guide the course of history in Wyoming, the United States, and around the world.”
And Sen. Lindsey Graham said Cheney had a “tremendous sense of confidence in who he was and what he believed.”
“When that self-confidence clashed with members of both parties, he was unshaken,” Graham added.
Their words were notable because Cheney, after his retirement from public office, became a critic of Trump.