Former President George W. Bush‘s daughter Jenna Bush Hager is offering her support to Dick Cheney‘s daughters, Mary and Liz, after his death at age 84.
News broke on Tuesday, November 4, that Cheney died from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease. Bush Hager, 43, spoke out about Cheney’s passing after he served in office alongside her father, 79.
“Of course, I think everybody is waking up and thinking about his family,” Bush Hager said on the Today show. “When you hear of a politician who passes, there’s tons of coverage about what they are like as a politician, but as a daughter of a politician, as a granddaughter of a politician, I just am thinking of his daughters and who they are missing, which is not necessarily a man who casts votes, but rather a man who raised them.”
Bush Hager issued a message specifically to Cheney’s children.
Celebrity Health Scares Through the Years
“So, I am thinking of Mary and Liz this morning, who I’m going to reach out to as well just to send my love, and I know my parents are thinking the very same,” she continued. “I think public grieving can be very difficult because there’s a lot about who the person is as a public figure, but very little about who they are as a dad, as a granddad, as a husband, and so I’m thinking of his family.”
Bush Hager noted that her husband, Henry Hager, is also close to Mary, saying, “Mary was very close, is close, with Henry, so Henry’s out of town, but I texted him this morning and I’m sure he’s going to reach out to her as soon as he wakes up.”
Cheney’s family released a statement after his Monday, November 3, death.
“His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” read the statement. “For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense and Vice President of the United States.”
His family continued: “Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness and fly-fishing. We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”
Donna Jean Godchaux Dead: The Grateful Dead Singer Was 78
Cheney had a history of cardiovascular issues, which resulted in multiple heart attacks. He suffered the first in 1978 at age 37 and then had four more through the years before undergoing a heart transplant in 2012 at age 74.
“Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift,” Cheney’s office said in a 2012 statement.
Cheney later opened up about the procedure, sharing on a 2013 episode of 60 Minutes, “When you emerge from that gift of life itself, there’s a tremendous feeling of emotion, but it’s very positive. I think my first words when I came out from under the anesthetic and they said it had worked great was, ‘Hot damn.’ Literally.”
He concluded: “You wake up every morning with a smile on your face because you’ve got a new day you never expected to have. And there’s a sense of wonderment. Nothing short of magical.”
