The former vice president’s long career intersected with Oklahoma’s energy economy and military community.
Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney died Nov. 3, 2025, at 84 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac/vascular disease, his family said. He served as defense secretary during the 1991 Gulf War and as George W. Bush’s vice president from 2001–2009, shaping post-9/11 national security policy.
As defense secretary in August 1990, Cheney initiated the call-up of reservists at the outset of Operation Desert Shield, a move that rippled through Oklahoma installations as Fort Sill shipped equipment and prepared units during the Gulf War buildup—an early example of the policy decisions that would later define his vice-presidential years.
Before returning to government, Cheney ran Halliburton, the oil-services giant founded in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1919. During his 1995–2000 tenure as CEO, the company’s historic Duncan operations remained a backbone of its manufacturing and research presence, linking Cheney’s corporate years directly to the state’s energy economy.
His political travels brought him back to Oklahoma repeatedly. In 2002, Cheney appeared in Oklahoma City for events that included saluting maintenance crews at Tinker and rallying Republicans ahead of the midterms; in 2003 he headlined a Bush-Cheney ’04 reception at Civic Center Music Hall.
Cheney’s most visible Oklahoma moment as vice president came on April 19, 2005, when he joined former President Bill Clinton and bombing survivors at the 10th anniversary ceremony for the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building attack—an observance that included 168 seconds of silence.
Cheney’s Oklahoma intersections sat within a larger national legacy—praised by supporters for decisiveness after 9/11 and criticized by opponents for expansive executive power and the Iraq invasion. He is survived by his wife, Lynne, and daughters, Liz and Mary. Funeral plans were not announced as of Tuesday.