Richard Arnold: US Correspondent on the death of former US Vice President Dick Cheney

Former US Vice President Dick Cheney has died at the age of 84, from the complications of pneumonia, and cardiac and vascular disease. 

George W Bush says his VP's death is a "loss to the nation". 

Cheney's family say he taught his children and grandchildren fly-fishing, to love their country, and to live lives of courage, honour, love and kindness. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking he was the most powerful vice president in American history, pushing for the war on terror and the invasion of Iraq, among other things. 

Cheney gained the nickname Darth Vader for his role as well as his health, Arnold said, the VP experiencing his first heart attack at 37, with four more following before he got a heart transplant at 71. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We must move on to Richard Donald Stateside burning mate,
good morning, he might Dick Cheney eighty four.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
He was one of a kind. Dick Cheney was not
simply the vice president to George W. Bush for eight years.
He was virtually co president. That put the stamp on
the Bush years. Bush Junior could have been a very
different leader if Cheney had not taken the reins in
the way he did. Cheney had started out as the
youngest presidential chief of staff ever for Ford, then in
the Congress for a while, and then as the events

(00:27):
secretary for Bush Senior. So he wasn't lacking in confidence,
and that is one of the key points in his story.
In the year two thousand, the younger Bush asked him
to lead a national search for a possible running mate
should they be elected, and Cheney, after lengthy deliberations and investigations,
found that the best possible person in the country was himself.

(00:47):
That's when he became known as the Nemesis from Star Wars.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
They wouldn't call me Darth Vader for nothing.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Now, that and his endless health issues. He had his
first heart attack at age thirty seven, and four more
following in all sorts of heart treatments, finally undergoing a
heart transplant at seventy one, thirty years back. He's dead
now at eighty four, from heart and other issues. As
the most powerful vice president in American history, Cheney pushed

(01:14):
for the War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq
a the liberation of Kuwait in ninety one.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
He said, simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam
Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no
doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends,
against our allies, and against us.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Simply stated that was flat wrong. Cheney unrepentant, however, he said.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
We got rid of one of the worst dictators of
the twentieth century.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
They also gave power to the oppressed po Iranian Schiites,
which led to years of my backlashes. Cheney is well
favored tough treatment for wartime detainee.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
I was a big supporter of waterboarding. I was a
big support of the enhanced interrogation techniques.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Waterboarding course where you pretend to drown people for long
periods until agreed to talk, as regarded as torture. En Hans.
Interrogation includes forcing people on their knees to steer into
the sun for endless hours, as they did at Camp
X Ray at Guantanamo Bay, which I visited back in
the day as a reporter. Dick Cheney then made some
late life reversals, openly supporting gay marriage. One of his

(02:18):
daughters is gay. He then took a stand against Trump
and made this anti Trump campaign commercial for his daughter,
Liz Cheney, as they both slammed Trump's actions on January
the sixth of twenty twenty one. Here is part of
what they put together.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Liz is fearless. She never backs down from the fight.
There is nothing more important she will ever do than
lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never
again near the Oval office.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Well, we know how that turned out. It's far right
warrior though wound up voting for Kamala Harris. So it's complicated,
as they say on social media. But asked not so
long ago if he had any regrets, he said, quote,
not really.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Okay, what do we recommend Armie today?

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Looks like it? But how is this subtle? Its election day?
Of course for the off terms with a few of
the governor's races, as you've been mentioning in the California
redistricting measure and this vote for her top job as
mayor of New York City. Leading the mayoral race is Mandami,
the thirty four year old agand And born and self
described Democratic socialists who was running on the Democratic ticket
this after former Governor Andrew Cromo, who was accused of

(03:21):
textual harassment by a number of women, was ousted and
forced to run as an independent in the mayor's race. Anyway,
then you'll post. The Murdoch owned pro Trump tabloid in
the Big Apple has a front page out today, big letters,
headline reading, keep this commie out. So that's subtle if
if that is too subtle for some. Trump has given
Cuomo a last minute endorsement, So that'll really help the

(03:44):
one time Democratic governor. Not Mandami already as mocking Cromo
mercilessly for the Trump backing. Polls have him about ten
points ahead of Croomo. Trump posted, whether you personally like
Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. Democrats
are hoping to begin mounting some kind of political comebat
with today's voting. The results of the governor's races in
New Jersey and Virginia will be very interesting.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yes they will. All right, mate, We'll see your Friday.
Richard Arnold state, So, just a couple of polls out.
The NBC poll tied in with the Trump appearance, of course,
on sixty minutes, sixty six percent says fall and shild
of expectations on inflation and cost of living. Sixty three
percent blame the administration, also falling short on expectations around
the economy. CNN this morning their poll has at an

(04:26):
approval rating of thirty seven, which is the lowest level
in the second term so far. Sixty eight percent think
things are going badly for the country. Seventy two percent
so the economy is in poor shape.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.