Dick Cheney passes away: What was his cause of death?

Former President George HW Bush once used a choice word to describe his son’s vice president, Dick Cheney: “just iron ass.” While the remark came from Cheney’s aggressive stance after the 9/11 attacks, it could equally describe his attitude toward life. All his life Dick Cheney struggled with issues of heart, but not once did he let that hinder him from serving his nation.

Today, after years of health complications, Richard Bruce Cheney died at the age of 84, while surrounded by friends and family. The statement released by the family said that he died “due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease."

Dick Cheney, the strongest Vice President of US

A defining figure in modern American politics, Cheney was widely regarded as the most powerful vice president in US history, a man who reshaped the role itself. As one of the chief architects of the Iraq War and the post-9/11 “war on terror,” his influence stretched far beyond the traditional bounds of the vice presidency.

Struggles of heart

But behind the image of an unyielding political strategist was a man who spent much of his adult life at war with his own heart. Cheney suffered his first heart attack at just 37. Others followed in quick succession, at ages 43, 47, and 59, the last coming only two weeks after the tense 2000 election. After his third attack in 1988, he underwent a quadruple coronary-artery bypass.

In 2001, after developing an irregular heart rhythm, doctors implanted a defibrillator in his chest to correct life-threatening arrhythmias. Three years later, another procedure followed to clear blocked stents.

Despite those setbacks, Cheney continued to serve without visible slowdown. In 2012, he underwent a heart transplant, a procedure that allowed him to live another decade of relatively active life.

It was during his vice presidency, however, that Cheney understood how deeply fragile his health was.

Cheney soldiered on bravely, he continued to perform his duties as vice president and served his country the best he could. In 2012, finally, he underwent a heart transplant. The procedure was successful, and he later said it gave him a “new lease on life.”

Long after his presidency was over, in a 2013 CNN interview, he disclosed that he had prepared a secret letter of resignation, to be delivered to President George W. Bush if he ever became incapacitated. Cheney handed the letter to his counsel, David Addington, as a constitutional safeguard, recognizing that the law provided no mechanism for removing an incapacitated vice president.

Disease that defined his health

Cheney’s heart complications stemmed from coronary artery disease, caused by atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty deposits, cholesterol, and other substances inside the arteries. This buildup narrows blood flow and increases the risk of heart attacks.

According to the Mayo Clinic, major contributing factors to atherosclerosis include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and genetics. Cheney’s long history of smoking and his genetic risk both played critical roles in the progression of his disease.