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Dick Cheney, considered one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents, died Monday at the age of 84. Besides serving as vice president for President George W. Bush, he also served as White House chief of staff, as a congressman from Wyoming and as U.S. secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush. 

Cheney spent much of his life in politics, traveling the globe to meet with foreign leaders, to promote various policy changes or to support Republican candidates. He was a leading proponent of the invasion of Iraq in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

He came to Maine several times, dating back to the administration of the first President Bush, as well as in 2000 while on the campaign trail as George W. Bush’s running mate.

He returned to Maine two years later as vice president to stump for gubernatorial candidate Peter Cianchette.

Take a look back at photos of Cheney’s visits to Maine.

President George H.W. Bush walks with top-level advisers after a meeting at his vacation home in Kennebunkport on May 19, 1989. From left: National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft; Admiral William Crowe, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; President Bush; and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. (Ron Edmonds/Associated Press)
President George H.W. Bush meets with key advisers on the Middle East situation at his home in Kennebunkport in August 1990. Seated are, clockwise from right foreground, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney; Chief of Staff John Sununu; President Bush; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell; Deputy National Security Adviser Bob Gates; National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft; and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger. (Carol T. Powers/Associated Press)
President George Bush holds a press conference on the grounds of his Kennebunkport vacation home, on Aug. 8, 1992, as Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, center, and Assistant Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, right, look on. (Greg Gibson/Associated Press)
Then-vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney addresses workers at Portland Valve Company in South Portland, a defense contractor, during a visit on Sept. 7, 2000. (Doug Jones/Staff Photographer)
Cheney addresses workers at Portland Valve Company in South Portland, a defense contractor, on Sept. 7, 2000. (Doug Jones/Staff Photographer)
Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney greets an audience of supporters at a campaign rally at Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland on Nov. 3, 2000. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
Vice President Dick Cheney and gubernatorial hopeful Peter Cianchette in South Portland during a GOP event on Oct. 21, 2002. The vice president was in Maine stumping for Maine Republicans. (Herb Swanson/Staff Photographer)
Vice President Dick Cheney and gubernatorial hopeful Peter Cianchette in South Portland during a GOP event on Oct. 21, 2002. (Herb Swanson/Staff Photographer)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, left, takes the oath of office with Vice President Dick Cheney, right, during a mock swearing in ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 7, 2003. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
Vice President Dick Cheney waves to the media at the Portland International Jetport on Sept. 18, 2006. Cheney was in Maine for a private fundraiser. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

Aimsel Ponti is a music writer and content producer for the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with – and inspired by – music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town...

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