We have lost a great American.
Vice President Dick Cheney was a great American patriot. His life of service to his country was well told in his memoir, In My Time, co-written with his daughter Liz (Steve Hayes also wrote a terrific biography — Cheney: The Untold Story of America’s Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President).
Cheney’s story would have been extraordinary even if he had not gone from vetting potential running mates for the GOP’s then-nominee, George W. Bush, to convincing the soon-to-be president that he was the best candidate for the job. But his most essential contribution was to his highest value, the national security of the United States.
That came after the 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 Americans were killed in suicide hijackings that destroyed the World Trade Center, struck the Pentagon, and failed to hit either the Capitol or the White House only because one flight was heroically taken down by passengers and crew.
Vice President Cheney instantly recognized the abject failure of the decade-long strategy of treating jihadist terrorism as a mere crime problem to be dealt with by prosecution in the civil courts. He was the most energetic force in inducing the nation to move to a war footing — a whole-of-government strategy which recognized that our enemies, even in striking against the heart of U.S. commerce and national defense, posed a global challenge to America’s leadership of the West.
This was a deeply controversial strategy at the time. Yet, nearly a quarter century later, there has been no recurrence of 9/11 (despite tireless jihadist plots and threats). Our security, particularly the sharing of intelligence across the military, the intelligence community, and our domestic security services is night-and-day superior to where we stood at the turn of the century.
Vice President Cheney was a lightning rod for criticism of a defense approach that elevated intelligence and military operations over law-enforcement investigations and courtroom prosecutions of jihadists who operated in overseas sanctuaries beyond the reach of our police and the writ of our judges. Naturally, when there were excesses, as there inevitably are in war, he caught the slings and arrows. But he understood that security was elemental to a free, flourishing society.
A great man. Requiescat in pace, and prayers for the Cheney family.