Dick Cheney’s Death Divides Right and Left Media: Unabashed Statesman or War Criminal?

Former Vice President Dick Cheney passed away at age 84 earlier this week, drawing critical and positive media perspectives from outlets on both the left and right.

For Context: Cheney served as vice president for two terms in the George W. Bush administration and is widely credited as being the architect of the Iraq War.

Bipartisan Indifference: Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic (Left bias) cited his own long career of writing about politicians and said Cheney was uniquely “fully secure in what he believed, what he wanted, and ultimately who he was.” Leibovich highlighted that Cheney was hated by Democrats in the aughts and Trump supporters after January 6, 2021, and argued he “was bipartisan in his indifference to both” and “didn’t care what you thought or need your applause, grudging or otherwise.”

‘Right and Righteous’: In an opinion titled “Dick Cheney: Peacekeeper” for National Review (Right), Shay Khatiri offered glowing praise of the former vice president and his handling of the Iraq War. Khatiri concluded, “Dick Cheney was intelligent and capable; better yet, he was right and righteous. It is easy to say that they do not make men like him anymore. But that would be a cliché – worse, it would be misleading. They rarely ever did.”

End of Endless Wars: An analysis from ZeroHedge (Lean Right) described Cheney as someone who will “forever be known as… one of the most powerful vice presidents in US history.” ZeroHedge noted that Cheney left office with an approval rating of 31% and said his death “marks the end of the era of endless wars around the world, as President Trump has signed peace deals left and right this year while reorienting America's military to secure the Western Hemisphere.”

Arab Perspective: Middle Eastern news outlets, Middle East Eye (Left) and Al Jazeera (Lean Left), published critical opinions of Cheney’s legacy. For Middle East Eye, Mohamad Elmasry wrote Cheney’s “true legacy is the lawless post-9/11 world order he helped build, which endures today.” Al Jazeera columnist Belén Fernández, an American, wrote, “As usual, the corporate media can never bring themselves to call a spade a spade – or a war criminal a war criminal… the loss of another mass murderer can hardly be considered bad news.”

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