Overview
- The family said he died on Nov. 3 from complications of pneumonia plus cardiac and vascular disease, with his wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary at his side.
- A lifelong cardiac patient, he survived multiple heart attacks and received a 2012 heart transplant that prolonged his retirement.
- His public career spanned Ford’s White House chief of staff, six terms as Wyoming’s lone House member, defense secretary overseeing Desert Storm, and vice president under George W. Bush.
- He was widely seen as a chief architect of the Iraq invasion and the post-9/11 security regime, defending expanded surveillance, detention and interrogation practices that drew lasting criticism.
- In recent years he broke with much of the GOP, denounced President Donald Trump, and endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024 as tributes and reassessments of his legacy followed his death.