Podcast Episode Summary: This Guy Sucked

Episode: Dick Cheney with Nicole Hemmer
Host: Dr. Claire Aubin
Guest: Dr. Nicole Hemmer (Vanderbilt University, Director of Rogers Center for the American Presidency)
Date: March 5, 2026

Overview

This episode tackles the controversial legacy of Dick Cheney—arguably one of the most powerful and consequential Vice Presidents in U.S. history. Host Dr. Claire Aubin and historian Dr. Nicole Hemmer chart Cheney’s meteoric rise from small-town Wyoming to the height of political power, dissecting his hawkish policies, relentless expansion of executive authority, and his pivotal roles in some of the darkest chapters of recent American history. Together, they expose how Cheney’s choices and ideology continue to shape politics—often for the worse.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dick Cheney: The Shadow President

• Cheney’s Reputation: Known as the “secret president” during George W. Bush’s administration, Cheney wielded unprecedented influence as Vice President, driving national security strategy, surveillance, the Iraq War, and more.
  • “During the years that he was vice president, he was often talked about in the press as the secret president, like the guy pulling the strings behind the Bush administration.” — Nicole Hemmer [05:09]
• Cheney’s approach was “unapologetically pro-executive power, pro-secrecy, anti-accountability, and anti-democratic at core.”

2. Origins: From Wyoming to Washington

• Cheney’s early life: Born in 1941 in Lincoln, Nebraska, raised in Wyoming—an unusual political origin point.
• Won entry to Yale through the favor of a rich oilman, then drank and flunked out.
  • “There was nothing academically distinguished about Dick Cheney, but somebody who had a lot of money, opened a door, got him into Yale. And what does Dick Cheney do with that…? He drinks a lot of alcohol and flunks out.” — Hemmer [09:21]
• Avoided Vietnam draft via five deferments (marriage, children, grad school).
• Entered DC politics in the late 1960s, quickly attached himself to figures like Donald Rumsfeld—initiating a career-long pattern of proximity to power.

3. Forrest Gump of the Right: Meteoric Political Rise

• Dubbed “the Forrest Gump of American right-wing politics,” Cheney is present at every major conservative inflection point from late 1960s onward.
• Became White House Chief of Staff at 34, due to post-Watergate vacuum and patronage from Rumsfeld.

4. Defining Cheney’s Brand of Conservatism (Congress, 1979–89)

• Committees: Key player on Intelligence, Armed Services. Rose rapidly to House leadership.
• Iran-Contra: Authored the minority report defending the Reagan administration, arguing that laws limiting the executive on foreign policy were unconstitutional:
  • “He writes a BuzzFeed explainer that's like, ‘Yes, there is a lawless secret government. And here's why that's good for you.’” — Aubin [27:01]
  • “It's wild because what it is is it is a statement of unitary executive theory.” — Hemmer [27:14]
• Opposed sanctions on apartheid South Africa; consistently voted against domestic social programs; backed aggressive defense spending yet advocated for military downsizing post-Cold War.

5. The Unitary Executive Project

• Cheney as architect and advocate:
  • Sought to create nearly unchecked executive power, especially in foreign policy and national security.
  • Saw post-Watergate restrictions on the presidency as obstacles to be undone.
  • “He makes it his life project to ensure that Republican presidents have unrestrained power.” — Hemmer [18:10]
• The shift toward imperial presidency accelerated under Cheney’s influence—what was once radical became mainstream.

6. Secretary of Defense (1989–93): Warmongering & Imperialism

• Oversaw invasions/operations: Panama (Operation Just Cause, 1989) and the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm, 1991).
• Downplayed civilian casualties, justified US disregard for international law.
  • “He is there for every important thing that has happened in American politics at the end of the 20th century… and he hasn’t even gotten to a bunch of the other stuff he does while he’s there.” — Aubin [35:47]
• Set the stage for future action in Iraq by leaving Saddam Hussein in power—framing future regime change as unfinished business.

7. The Halliburton Interlude

• Left government to become CEO of Halliburton: expanded overseas operations, built deep ties with oil interests.
• Later capitalized directly (and indirectly) from the Iraq War via lucrative no-bid contracts for Halliburton subsidiaries.

8. Vice Presidency (2001–09): Cheney Unchained

• Led Bush’s VP selection committee—then essentially picked himself [46:03].
• Secured an unusually powerful VP portfolio: defense, intelligence, energy policy.
• Pushed radical executive secrecy, claim to be outside normal government transparency rules.
  • “Addington comes up with this idea that, well, technically the vice presidency is the fourth branch… and therefore is not covered by transparency and ethics laws…” — Hemmer [62:31]
• Orchestrated and legitimized extraordinary rendition, warrantless surveillance, torture, Guantanamo Bay, and other post-9/11 human rights violations.

9. 911: The State of Exception Realized

• Cheney’s conduct during 9/11: Seized command while Bush was airborne; unilaterally ordered potential shootdown of civilian planes—a presidential power he did not legally possess.
  • “He sort of claims presidential authority in that moment... who gets to give us orders?... He seizes that authority.” — Hemmer [54:25]
• Demonstrated the “state of exception” theorized by Carl Schmitt—constitutional norms vanish in crisis, leaving unchecked executive power.

10. War on Terror: A Legacy of Secrecy and Violence

• Immediate pivot post-9/11 to expand war aims beyond Afghanistan: laying the groundwork to invade Iraq practically on the day of the attacks.
• Manipulated intelligence and bullied State Dept. officials (notably Colin Powell) to make fabricated WMD case at the UN.
  • “Because Powell was the only one with credibility... but it was Cheney who was gathering the evidence, manipulating the evidence, manufacturing the evidence for Iraq.” — Hemmer [60:38]
• Oversaw secret energy task forces; built barriers to transparency; fostered surveillance overreach and information asymmetry.

11. Torture, Black Sites, and the Expansion of Impunity

• Led the legal and policy push for torture and indefinite detention, creating legalistic justifications for extraordinary measures:
  • “He is in fact one of the engines of these legal theories around both secrecy, but also again around torture, around Guantanamo Bay, around CIA black sites…” [62:31]
• Used legal contortions to create a “zone of impunity” for powerful actors—presidents, military, ICE—outside traditional accountability.
  • "We've created the Zone of Impunity for very powerful people to act... that’s why you have ICE killing people in the streets.” — Hemmer [66:48]
• Implementation of Kafkaesque rules at Guantanamo (“the contents of detainees’ brains are classified”).

12. Endgame: No Redemption

• In his final years, Cheney offered limited opposition to Trump in 2024, prompting media suggestions of “redemption”—but both hosts forcefully reject the notion that he was ever truly pro-democracy.
  • “That is his legacy, at the end of the day, is the lives that he destroyed because he didn’t think those lives were worth very much.” — Hemmer [72:27]
  • “No point at which you’re like, ‘Ah, and then he acted in the best interest of the world.’” — Aubin [76:07]
• Despite his opposition to Trump in 2024, Cheney had endorsed Trump in 2016 and 2020: “This is not a redemption arc. Like, it's just, it's very bad all the way up to pretty close to the end.” — Hemmer [76:35]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Cheney-Themed Banter & Dark Humor

• “Imagine having Bruce as your middle name and going by Dick instead.” — Aubin [03:59]
• “He is the Forrest Gump of American late 20th century right wing.” — Aubin [11:38]
• “It’s like a parade of horribles, and Dick Cheney is just the guy marching through.” — Hemmer [13:43]
• “He saw certain people as people and certain people as not people… those people could be tortured, could be imprisoned, could be killed...” — Hemmer [72:27]
• “I want to keep the foot on his neck… I want to remind people…don’t forget, still sucks.” — Aubin [77:39]

State Power, Accountability, and the Unitary Executive

• “He makes it kind of his life project to ensure that Republican presidents have unrestrained power.” — Hemmer [18:10]
• “Cheney is shaping the options; Bush is making the decisions.” — Aubin & Hemmer summary [51:36]
• “Your information belongs to me and my information belongs to me.” — Hemmer [75:21]

The Legal Gymnastics of Impunity

• “Addington comes up with this idea…the vice presidency…is in both branches—and therefore is not covered by transparency and ethics laws… and can’t be FOIAed.” — Hemmer [62:31]
• On classified prisoners’ brains: “The detainees did not know what information they held that was classified. Therefore, could never be released.” — Aubin [70:55]
• “The state is claiming that it has, in effect, ownership of your brain.” — Hemmer [70:55]

Important Timestamps

• 03:44 — Subject reveal: “Today we are talking about Vice President Richard B. Cheney. Dick Cheney.”
• 05:09 — Cheney’s reputation as the “secret president”; overview of abuses.
• 14:43 — At 34, Cheney made White House Chief of Staff—meteoric rise.
• 27:09 — Iran-Contra: Cheney defends lawless secret government.
• 35:08 — Appointed Secretary of Defense; Panama, Gulf War.
• 43:27 — Leaves for Halliburton CEO; crucial energy/policy ties.
• 46:03 — Returns to politics, becomes his own choice for VP.
• 53:32 — 9/11: Cheney seizes power, issues illegal shoot-down order.
• 58:28 — Post-9/11: immediate push to invade Iraq; manipulation.
• 62:31 — Architecting executive branch impunity, surveillance, secrecy.
• 70:55 — The case of “classified brains” at Guantanamo.
• 76:35 — No redemption: Cheney’s post-VP record and lasting harm.

Final Assessment

Dr. Aubin and Dr. Hemmer leave no ambiguity: Dick Cheney’s legacy is not mixed, but disastrous—criminal, anti-democratic, and catastrophic in human cost. His drive for secrecy, expansion of executive impunity, and use of power-for-power’s-sake echo through to today’s crises, from persistent war to domestic abuses of authority.
Whether or not the wider public eventually forgets the full extent of his misdeeds, This Guy Sucked will continue to remind us: Dick Cheney truly sucked.

For more incisive, irreverent historical hatery, subscribe to This Guy Sucked and check out Dr. Hemmer’s podcast, "This Day."