Mac McCorkle Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy Professor

04/11/2025 6 min
Mac McCorkle Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy Professor

Listen "Mac McCorkle Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy Professor"

Episode Synopsis

In Dick Cheney’s hands, the vice presidency became a nexus of influence and manipulation — no longer the timid office where its occupants had tended their boss’ ambitions. For George W. Bush’s vice president, bunkering in secure undisclosed locations after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was less an inconvenience than a metaphor for a life of power that he exercised to maximum effect from the shadows. Cheney died Monday at age 84. Cheney defended until his death the extraordinary tools of surveillance, detention and inquisition employed after the 9/11 attacks. Mac McCorkle, from the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy, joined Jeff Hamlin to discuss Cheney’s legacy.