The finding that cognitive impairment is a risk factor for mortality risk has been previously established in the cognitive epidemiology literature. However, the use of non-specific measures of cognition (mental status or IQ) and non-specific mortality outcome variables (all-cause mortality) has made it difficult to hypothesize about specific variables that may mediate these relationships. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White, elderly (> 60 years old) participants (N = 706) of the San Luis Valley Health and Aging Study were included in an analysis that investigated the relationship between a specific domain of cognitive functioning (executive function) (EF) and a specific cause of death variable (cardiovascular mortality) (CVM). We found that EF is a significant predictor of CVM risk in a binary logistic regression model that included age, education, ethnicity, sex, and comorbidities (Exp(B) = .878, 95% CI = .824 to .935) and higher EF was associated with a decreased likelihood of dying from CVD. This model was similar to a model that included General Mental Status (MMSE) as the predictor variable (Exp(B) = .895, 95% CI = .846 to .946). We did not find clear support for our hypotheses that level of engagement in health behaviors (physical activity, diet, and smoking behavior) would function as mediators of this relationship. Our conceptualization of EF suggests that the construct may be more related to ability to engage in behavior change, which was likely not sufficiently captured based on how we operationalized our proposed mediator variables. This limitation may have additionally affected our ability to demonstrate how EF and Mental status are dissociable cognitive constructs. Future investigations of the relationship between cognitive functioning and mortality would benefit from addressing this and some of the other methodological limitations identified in our discussion. Considerations for a prospective experimental protocol that would better enable us to study this relationship are offered.