WASHINGTON ‒ Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful vice presidents in United States history, a chief architect of the war in Iraq and a member of an old Republican Party guard that is quickly fading away, died Monday night.

Cheney, whose death was confirmed by a statement from his family, was 84.  The cause was complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, the statement said.

Cheney helped lead the push under President George W. Bush to invade Iraq based on intelligence ‒ later proven wrong ‒ that Saddam Hussein had amassed weapons of mass destruction.

“Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges,” Bush said in a statement. “I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best.”

The Iraq war took the lives of an estimated 200,000 Iraqi civilians and 4,492 U.S. servicemembers, and cost more than $700 billion.

McConnell lauds Cheney as ‘steady counsel’ in war against terror

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longtime former leader of Senate Republicans, mourned Cheney’s death after “decades of deeply patriotic and highly capable service” to the country.

McConnell credited Cheney’s “steady counsel” to President George W. Bush and “sheer force of will” after the Sept. 11 attacks with making the country safer.