Overview
- His family said he died on Nov. 3 from pneumonia and cardiovascular complications after long‑running heart disease that included a 1988 bypass and a 2012 transplant.
- He served as vice president from 2001 to 2009 and was widely seen as the driving force behind the Iraq invasion and the administration’s counterterror approach.
- As defense secretary under George H. W. Bush, he helped direct the U.S.-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf War.
- His tenure drew criticism over disputed prewar intelligence about Iraqi weapons and over an investigation that implicated his office in a CIA operative’s identity leak.
- After leaving office he defended his record, remained influential in conservative circles, and later broke with Donald Trump by endorsing Kamala Harris in 2024.