Former vice president, military hawk and longtime Wyoming politician Dick Cheney saw his status within the Republican Party rise and fall during his tenure as one of the highest ranking politicians ever to come out of the state.
Cheney, whose supporters saw him as a skilled Washington insider and whose critics pointed to his closed-door meetings with oil executives and support of waterboarding techniques, died on Nov. 4 at the age of 84 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement released by his family.
The man Wyoming’s current federal delegation called “a towering figure” who “holds a defining place in our state’s history” started out as a student at the University of Wyoming (UW), an intern for the Wyoming Legislature and later served as the state’s lone U.S. representative and vice president to George W. Bush.
In that role, some state lawmakers called him Wyoming’s unofficial “third U.S. senator” due to the vice president’s position as president of the Senate. He helped lead the immediate response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He backed aggressive military action in Iraq in a search for weapons of mass destruction, though no such weapons were ever found.
As Wyoming’s sole congressman, he served on powerful national security committees, like one investigating secret arms deals with Iran in the aftermath of the Iran-Contra affair.
“Party politics has its place, but it's severely overdone in Washington D.C. these days,” said Cheney, then vice president, in a speech to the state Legislature in 2006. “Out there, we could learn a thing or two from the tone of the spirit of the Wyoming state Legislature. I'm also proud of how we campaign here. This is a two party state. The voters put a high value on authenticity, plain speaking and civility. Party label in Wyoming brings no guarantees.”
Former Wyoming Public Radio News Director Bob Beck covered Cheney for years, especially during his time as congressman and House minority whip. Beck reported on Wyoming politics from 1988 to 2023.
“ I'll tell you, he was a tough guy,” said Beck. “If you wanted to press him on something, you bring your ‘A’ game because he was going to push back, but he enjoyed debating with you, and so he was actually a lot of fun. I think there was a perception that maybe he wasn't that nice or pleasant. He actually was quite funny.”
Beck recounted one memory of Cheney speaking to a gaggle of reporters. A journalist for the Associated Press started to ask Cheney a question by saying, “A lot of people say that if you do this, this means…” when Cheney interrupted her.
“Who says?” he asked her.
The reporter responded, “A lot of people.”
“ Nobody else is saying it. You are saying it. Own your opinion. Ask your question,” Cheney retorted, according to Beck.
Beck said he believed Cheney became interested in politics after former Pres. John F. Kennedy visited UW and gave a speech while Cheney was a student.
“ That made a big impression on him,” he said. “That visit, along with a political science professor, I believe at the University of Wyoming, convinced him to go into public life. That's the thing I think people should know. Dick Cheney loved Wyoming … and that's why he returned. He loved the University of Wyoming.”
Cheney was one state politician who reporters like Beck could always reach, he added.
“ If there was something breaking, you could usually get him,” Beck said. “I think that's such a contrast to, I think, probably the experience [reporters] have right now. I know in my final years in Wyoming, it wasn't quite as easy to get those people as it used to be.”
In 2009, former WPR reporter Elsa Partan visited crowded bars in Laramie to ask Wyomingites about their thoughts on Cheney as he was about to leave the office of vice president.
“I love Dick Cheney,” said one man at the time.
“I work in the oil field, and he was a Halliburton executive,” said another. “He brings money into our pocket.”
Others said Cheney’s support for the war in Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction was self-serving. That included custom staircase builder Paul Irby.
“He doesn't represent Wyoming at all, and I think he represents himself, and I think he represents greed,” said Irby.
As of this story’s publishing, the further-right Wyoming Freedom Caucus has yet to issue a statement on Cheney’s death.
The Wyoming Republican Party said in a statement posted to Facebook, “Our native son [Cheney was born in Nebraska] held many positions of power and influence, first in our state, then nationally and internationally, and was arguably one of the most forceful conservative leaders of our time. Perhaps most importantly to him, he delighted in his role as a devoted husband and father, taking great pride in his children and their accomplishments. His passing is the end of an era in Wyoming and national politics. We offer our deepest condolences to the Cheney family in this time of profound loss.”
But those condolences weren’t shared by some Facebook commenters who left strongly-worded messages under the GOP’s statement.
“He was not a great man or a great Republican,” wrote Joy Daggett. “He was a RINO [Republican In Name Only] and a traitor. I am sorry for his family who will miss him but I will not.”
“Not significant to me or anyone who understands the deep state,” wrote Sharon Bautista. “I see the old guard Republicans are still enamored.”
Bob Aguiar, vice chair of the Hot Springs County Commissioners and the husband of an architect behind the 50% property tax reduction ballot initiative, wrote, “RIP in hell.”
Beck explained that the mixed feelings Wyomingites have for Cheney come out of his support for former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, his daughter, who co-chaired a committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Liz Cheney represented the state in Congress from 2017 to 2023 before being primaried by attorney and former ally Harriet Hageman, who won 66.3% of the vote to Cheney’s 28.9% in 2022.
“In 2016, [Dick Cheney] was regarded as a Republican hero,” Beck said. “He was somebody who had served his country in a variety of ways. But by him supporting his daughter and by speaking out against Trump, somehow things turned on him.”
That was especially true after, in a surprise move, Cheney endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Then-former Pres. Donald Trump subsequently called him an “irrelevant RINO.”
That characterization doesn’t add up to Beck.
“ If you're going try and tell me that Dick Cheney ever was a RINO, we need to re-look at that definition, because this was one of the more conservative people I ever dealt with,” he said. “He was very much a military hawk. And yes, he did some positive things for the state on the environmental front, actually way back in the 1980s.”
But, for the most part, Beck said Cheney was a person who believed in oil, gas and drilling, and many of the conservative principles that those in the Tea Party movement supported at one point.
“He certainly held the Republican standard for a lot of years,” he said. “And so to see that change a little bit is awfully surprising to me.”
Plans for Cheney’s funeral had not been announced by the afternoon of Nov. 5.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
