Darth Vader? As vice president, Cheney vilified for war and torture

WASHINGTON – Dick Cheney was once vilified as the Darth Vader of the Republican Party for his aggressive prosecution of Middle East wars, but he embraced the image even as he and his daughter were ostracized from President Donald Trump’s version of the GOP.

Cheney, who died Nov. 3 at 84, helped direct the Persian Gulf War as defense secretary to President George H.W. Bush. After the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, Cheney became the architect of the war plans in Afghanistan and Iraq as vice president to President George W. Bush. During those latter conflicts, Cheney defended harsh interrogation techniques that others labeled torture.

Then-Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, who headed the Intelligence Committee, described interrogation of suspected terrorists during that period, including waterboarding and sleep deprivation, as "absolutely brutal, far worse than the CIA represented them to policymakers and others."

But in later years, Cheney and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, became heroes to many Democrats by becoming two of the most vocal critics of President Donald Trump. Trump retaliated by blasting the elder Cheney for "Endless, Nonsensical wars" and the younger Cheney as a "radical war hawk."

Bush praised Cheney for prioritizing American 'freedom and security'

Cheney came to the vice presidency under President George W. Bush with some of the most experience in history, including serving as chief of staff to President Gerald Ford and as a House member from Wyoming.

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, Cheney’s role expanded to oversee the hunt for terrorists in Afghanistan and for weapons of mass destruction that were never found in Iraq.

"I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators," Cheney said on NBC’s "Meet the Press" on March 16, 2003.

George W. Bush said he remained grateful for Cheney's assistance during their eight-year administration.

"Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges. I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best," Bush said in a statement Nov. 4. "He held to his convictions and prioritized the freedom and security of the American people."

Cheney defended Iraq war, harsh interrogation techniques

Years later, Cheney acknowledged that no stores of such weapons had been found but he defended the course he had advised and Bush had chosen.

"If we have learned anything in the last 25 years – from Beirut to Somalia to the USS Cole – it is that terrorist attacks are not caused by the projection of force; they are invited by the perception of weakness," Cheney told the conservative Heritage Foundation in January 2006. "And this nation made a decision: We will never go back to the false comforts of the world before Sept. 11th, 2001. We will engage these enemies with the goal of victory. And with the American military in the fight, that victory is certain."

Cheney denied prisoners were tortured. He defiantly said torture was what the Sept. 11 hijackers committed or what happened to U.S. prisoners during the Vietnam war. He said the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel defined what was authorized.

"We were very careful to stop short of torture," Cheney told NBC’s "Meet the Press" in December 2014. "The Senate has seen fit to label their report torture. But we worked hard to stay short of that definition."

Cheney 'rather proud' of Darth Vader image

Along the way, Cheney earned a pugnacious reputation. In 2004, he dropped an f-bomb to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, who questioned his ties to energy company Halliburton on the Senate floor.

Commentators across the political spectrum referred to Cheney as Darth Vader. Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham played the character's John Williams theme music from "Star Wars" when she interviewed Cheney. Even George W. Bush joked about the character being his persona for Halloween in 2007.

"After all, Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently," Cheney said at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in October 2007.

When a Wall Street Journal reporter visited Wyoming to interview Cheney in 2015, the former vice president showed off his trailer hitch modeled after the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet.

"Darth Vader," Cheney said. "I'm rather proud of that."

Cheney, daughter criticized Trump over Jan. 6 riot

Despite his gruff image as the incarnate of evil, Cheney and his daughter won support from Democrats and factions of the GOP for their criticism of Trump.

Liz Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump was acquitted in a Senate trial.

Cheney and his daughter were the only Republicans who attended a memorial the following year at the Capitol. Liz Cheney became a member of the House committee that investigated the riot and urged the Justice Department to prosecute Trump for it.

"I am deeply disappointed at the failure of many members of my party to recognize the grave nature of the January 6 attacks and the ongoing threat to our nation," the former vice president said in a statement after attending a minute of silence ceremony on the House floor.

After Dick Cheney endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, against Trump in 2024, Trump called Cheney "irrelevant" and a "Republican in name only."

"He’s the King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars, wasting Lives and Trillions of Dollars, just like Comrade Kamala Harris," Trump said in a social media post.

Trump blasted Liz Cheney in 2024 during a conversation in Arizona with Tucker Carlson.

"She's a radical war hawk," Trump said. "Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face."

Trump has since ordered the Pentagon renamed the War Department and sunk boats allegedly carrying drugs off Venezuela.