Dick Cheney, the former vice-president who died on Tuesday, dramatically expanded the powers of the US presidency in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. More than two decades later, Donald Trump is wielding the political levers Cheney constructed as a potent tool to advance his national priorities - even as the two men had nasty personal clashes over the direction of the Republican Party.
Cheney's experience in US government stretched back to Richard Nixon's White House, and he honed his theories of presidential powers over decades of experience in the corridors of power in Congress and during multiple Republican administrations.
As vice-president during the George W Bush administration, he used the Al-Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon to restructure the foundations of executive authority. Cheney freed Bush to fight the 'war on terror' as he saw fit, driven by a shared belief that the government had to shake off old habits of self-restraint, noted Barton Gellman in his 2008 book on Cheney's time in office.
Now Donald Trump, who has inherited those expanded presidential powers, is using them to pursue his own political agenda. This agenda has shocked parts of the American public the way Cheney's once did, but it has diverged at times from the policies and priorities Cheney endorsed.
While Trump justifies his actions citing 'national emergencies', the current climate lacks the unity or sense of crisis felt in the wake of 9/11. Nonetheless, Cheney, in his later years, warned of the dangers Trump posed to the nation, particularly following Trump's attempts to challenge the 2020 election results. In 2024, Cheney even stated his support for Democrat Kamala Harris, declaring Trump as a significant threat to the Republic.
Despite these clashes, both leaders shared a common approach towards expanding executive power, with Trump mirroring Cheney’s tactics in several areas, including the use of military power overseas and the expansion of surveillance capabilities.
The article continues to explore the implications of Trump's presidency on civil liberties and national security, echoing concerns raised during Cheney's term, and highlights the ongoing ramifications of these power dynamics within the U.S. political landscape.
