A dominant figure, defined by two wars in Iraqpublished at 13:09 GMT
13:09 GMT
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
For a man
who never became president, who never even sought the presidency, Dick Cheney
was a dominant figure in American politics.
For decades
he was a behind-scenes player in Republican circles. He served as President
Gerald Ford’s White House chief of staff in the 1970s and an influential member
of Congress from Wyoming during the 1980s.
It was his
two roles in the spotlight, however – as the architect of the Gulf War as
George HW Bush’s secretary of defence and as George W Bush’s vice-president 10
years later – that cemented his place in history.
During the
younger Bush’s administration, he singlehandedly turned his role as
vice-president from what was traditionally an empty role, with little formal
power, into a de facto deputy presidency, overseeing American foreign policy and
national security in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the World Trade
Center and Pentagon.
His
unflinching, unapologetic willingness to wield power made him a villain for
much of the left and a hero on the right – at least for a time.
The
difficulty and unpopularity of the Iraq War, however, led to a falling out
between him and Bush – and, years later, a renunciation of his brand of
internationalist policies by the next Republican president, Donald Trump.
In his
final years, Cheney would become a persona non grata in his own party, which
had been reshaped in Trump’s image.
His daughter, who had followed him into
Congress, was ousted from office for her criticism of Trump. And in an odd
final twist, his own Trump criticism – and 2024 endorsement of Democrat Kamala
Harris for president – would win him praise from some on the left who had once
denounced him decades earlier.