Staff Reports
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has died at the age of 84, his family announced, passing away on November 3, 2025 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease. The news of his death landed like a thunderclap across the nation, and conservatives should take a moment to recognize the loss of a man who spent his life in the service of this country. His family said Lynne and their daughters were at his side, a private moment amid a very public life.
Cheney’s resume reads like a catalog of national service: White House chief of staff, congressman from Wyoming, Secretary of Defense during the Gulf War, and two-term vice president under George W. Bush. Few modern politicians reshaped the office of the vice president the way he did, turning an understudy’s role into a central engine of national security decision-making when the country needed it most. Love him or hate him, history will remember him as a figure who prioritized American strength.
On September 11 and in the years that followed, Cheney advocated for a robust, sometimes ruthless, counterterrorism posture that many on the left still denounce without acknowledging the stakes. Conservatives who value a safe, sovereign nation know that hard decisions follow hard times, and Cheney’s defenders argue he chose what he believed would keep the homeland secure rather than curry favor with political elites. The debate over Iraq and interrogation policies will continue, but the context of a scared nation after 9/11 is not to be forgotten.
Cheney lived with fragile health for decades — surviving five heart attacks and undergoing a heart transplant in 2012 — and his family noted his long battle with heart disease when announcing his passing. That he kept serving despite repeated setbacks tests the caricatures offered by his opponents; this was a man who faced mortality and returned to work for the country he loved. Conservatives should respect the personal courage it takes to keep fighting after repeated blows, not gloat at one man’s decline.
In recent years Cheney became a target of modern populists inside his own party, and his daughter Liz’s stand against the lawlessness surrounding January 6 drew further ire from the MAGA wing. Still, patriotism isn’t measured by who you attack in the moment but by what you do when America’s safety is on the line, and Cheney’s record was built on that calculation. As Republicans, we can grieve honestly — acknowledging mistakes while defending the principle that strength and vigilance are virtues, not vices.
Now is the hour for dignity and for conservatives to lead the chorus of respect: pray for his family, honor the sacrifices that marked his long career, and remember that national security sometimes demands decisions that history alone can fairly judge. The left will rush to rewrite his life in terms that suit their politics; we should counter with sober praise for service, courage under fire, and a commitment to keeping America free and safe. In that spirit, let us show the class to mourn with decency and the strength to defend a legacy of toughness and patriotism.
