Divisive legacy A key player in making case for 'war on terror'

Dick Cheney came to be seen as a moderate in his later years for his staunch opposition to Donald Trump, but he also stands accused of paving the way for Trumpism by undermining the independence of intelligence agencies and US adherence to international law.

- Julian Borger

As George W Bush’s second-in-command in the “war on terror” declared after the 9/11 attacks, Cheney made himself one of the most powerful vice-presidents in US history and was a key protagonist in the push to invade Iraq, as well as the use of torture on suspected al-Qaida members detained without charge in the CIA's offshore “black sites”.

In doing so, he took an assertive view of the powers of the presidency relative to the other branches of government, arguing that the White House had been unduly constrained by Congress in the aftermath of the Nixon administration and Watergate.

Even as he fiercely criticised the Trump team for its excesses, Cheney was unapologetic about his record. He argued an American president should have a free hand in wielding US power in the world, which was justified in turn because the country was “the greatest force for good the world has ever known”. His 2015 book, written with his daughter Liz, was titled “Exceptional”.

He argued that “enhanced interrogation”, the Bush administration’s euphemism for the use of torture, had “kept us safe”. “I think it’s directly responsible for the fact that we’ve been able to avoid or defeat further attacks against the homeland for seven and a half years,” Cheney told the Washington Times in 2008.