Driver of militant US response to 9/11 passes away

Dick Cheney, whose campaign for a military response to the 9/11 terror attack cleared the path for an unpopular war in Iraq and established his reputation as one of the most powerful and polarising vice presidents in US history, has died. He was 84.

- BLOOMBERG

“The former vice president died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease,” according to a family statement released early Tuesday. His wife, Lynne, and daughters Liz and Mary were with him when he died on Monday night.

As George W. Bush’s vice president from 2001 to 2009, Cheney embodied the single-minded determination to do whatever was necessary to prevent further acts of terrorism on US soil. A veteran of three previous presidential administrations, including a stint as secretary of defense for Bush’s father, he was given wide berth and deference on the military issues that dominated Bush’s tenure, accumulating influence rarely seen in a vice president.