Former US Vice President Dick Cheney has decided to endorse Presidential Candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, stating that Donald Trump “Can never be trusted with power again”. Isn’t that just the pot calling the kettle black. I was immediately reminded of the movie Vice, a biopic about Dick Cheney. In the film (and in real life), Cheney had a HUGE amount of influence and power, almost to a dictatorial degree. He utilises the ‘unitary executive theory,’ which is a legal theory that argues for a really strong executive branch, to justify his use of power and the expansion of his powers over his time as VP. He argued essentially that the President (and Vice President) has complete control over executive functions of government, especially in times of crisis or war.
His expansive powers and the atrocities they brought forth really blur the line between a dictatorship or authoritarian power and simply a strong executive. But it also gives some insight into how a dictator might become so powerful in the first place.
In non-democratic regimes, especially personalistic dictatorships, we often see ‘executive aggrandizement’ or increasing executive power that includes weakening institutions or other branches of government, bending some rules or amending constitutions, solving some sort of crisis, and many more as described in our lectures 7 and 8 last half-tri. During Cheney’s Vice Presidency he worked to weaken congress and other government branches behind the scenes. His office continually resisted inquiries and oversight from congress, arguing that the Vice President wasn’t part of the executive when it came to being transparent and open, significantly weakening Congress’ ability to be a check and balance on him and his office’s power. Dick Chaney famously distorted constitutional interpretations A LOT to further justify his extensive power. His actions ultimately were justified by crises, specifically 9/11. After these attacks, the ‘war on terror’ was used so that the executive could work quickly with flexibility, with fewer constraints. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed just after the attacks stated “That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons.” Cheney’s greatest use of power was his interpretation of the AUMF, allowing and justifying the invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite the fact that Iraq had no direct connection to 9/11 at all. This was a disastrous case of executive power being abused, with clear norms and agreements being tossed aside. His ‘preventative war’ strategy on Iraq gave the executive the ability to literally wage war because of imaginary threats, a huge extension of executive power.
The similarities between the textbook ‘path to authoritarianism’ and Cheney’s time in office are striking. Was his use of the unitary executive theory really a way for governments to handle crisis and war? Or a way for one branch of government, or even one man to gain expansive power through a multitude of loopholes, as the film seems to suggest. The checks and balances that fall away when power is so condensed at the top can lead to authoritarian power and rule, but can a democratic country like the US really fall victim to the same thing? When every week in class we see another example of expanding executive power leading to authoritarianism and dictatorship, it certainly is becoming increasingly imaginable possibility to me. And perhaps term limits will not stand in the way next time a US President or Vice President decides to wield extraordinary executive powers…
- McKay, A. (2018). Vice. (H. Corwin, Ed.) Annapurna Pictures.
- 107th Congress. (2001). PUBLIC LAW 107–40—SEPT. 18, 2001. https://www.congress.gov/107/plaws/publ40/PLAW-107publ40.pdf
- Clayton, A. (2024, September 7). Former vice-president Dick Cheney confirms he will vote for Kamala Harris. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/06/dick-cheney-vote-kamala-harris
- Vice (2018) - Plot - IMDb. (n.d.). Www.imdb.com. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/plotsummary/
Good points, Charli - remember dictatorship is originally emergency government, and it still tends to emerge with that justification.
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