Former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), a lifelong conservative and Republican, has done something that both conservatives and progressives likely thought impossible. Cheney announced that she would vote for Kamala Harris, and has since been effectively campaigning with the Vice President. Many conservatives no doubt find these choices incomprehensible, and perhaps even disloyal. Former President Trump would likely suggest that Cheney is suffering from an attack of Trump derangement syndrome. What  Cheney is actually experiencing is a bout of principled and courageously selfless leadership, while simultaneously rejecting the scourge of unprincipled and self-serving loyalty to which many of her former colleagues have succumbed. 

Simply put, Liz Cheney believes that Donald Trump is an unprecedented threat to our democratic republic. Cheney’s recent actions are merely a continuation of the principled and selfless choices she made after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Prior to that event, she had apparently twice voted for Trump and backed the vast majority of his administration’s  policies. Trump’s incitement of violence and his dereliction of duty on January 6 were a bridge too far for Cheney, who then voted to impeach him. She in effect did what anyone in public service should do—call for accountability when someone recklessly violates organizational norms. Her principled stand cost Cheney her leadership position in Congress. The attacks from her own party intensified when she (as Vice Chair) and fellow Republican Adam Kinzinger defied their party when choosing to serve on the House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol. The Republican National Committee censured both of them, suggesting that they were participating in a “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” The vast majority of the witnesses who testified before that committee were themselves Republicans, to include former Trump administration officials. Neither Cheney nor Kinzinger bartered their convictions when their reelections were threatened by their courageous selflessness. Their principled stands cost both of them their seats in Congress. As Cheney eventually explained, “No House seat, no office in this land, is more important than the principles that we are all sworn to protect. And I well understood the potential political consequences of abiding by my duty.” 

While many in her party likely considered her disloyal for her condemnation of Trump’s actions, Cheney was actually practicing principled loyalty—a topic I devote a chapter to in What Hangs in the Balance. In that chapter I provide examples, mostly in the context of the Trump presidency, of inappropriate loyalty to a superior, leaders who expect inappropriate loyalty, inappropriate loyalty to subordinates, and, finally, examples of principled loyalty by those who worked for President Trump. 

Principled loyalty is not loyalty for loyalty’s sake, or loyalty stemming from some misguided notion of reciprocity. Inherent in the definition of loyalty is principle, and the notion that faithfulness towards a person or institution should be earned—or at the very least—should not violate one’s principles and values. Unprincipled, self-serving loyalty is not a virtue. In Cheney’s view, former President Trump was no longer deserving of her political allegiance because of his demonstrated disdain for the Constitution and traditional democratic values and principles. She recognized that he is fundamentally dishonest, abuses authority, and has no understanding of service before self. Trump was disloyal to his organization’s standards. Cheney understood that in this country “we don’t swear an oath to an individual or political party. We take our oath to defend the United States Constitution.” Rather than abandoning principle in furtherance of her own political and personal ambitions, and despite the fact that she and Vice President Harris have little in common from a policy perspective, Ms. Cheney has once again put patriotism and the rule of law ahead of partisanship and personal convenience.  

As Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) once stated, “Doing the right thing and being constant to our principles requires a level of moral courage that is difficult but by no means impossible.” For those serving in elected office, service before self regulates the instinct for self-preservation that can falsely equate personal interests with the public interest. Ms. Cheney has and continues to make personal and professional sacrifices when she believes they are in the best interests of her country. As I wrote in What Hangs in the Balance, “an enduring legacy of selfless service makes a difference in the lives of others and is built during the course of a lifetime. It is built one day and one choice at a time. Selfless leadership puts principle and duty at the forefront of decision-making.” 

Notes

“persecution of ordinary citizens engaged”: “Resolution to Formally Censure Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and to No Longer Support Them as Members of the Republican Party,” Republican National Committee. https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/rnc-jan6-resolution/2d6a07e7cf8d8cfb/full.pdf

“No House seat, no office in this land”: “Rep. Liz Cheney Primary Night Remarks,” C-SPAN, August 16, 2022. https://www.c-span.org/video/?522338-1/rep-cheney-loses-wyoming-republican-primary-harriet-hageman

“Doing the right thing and being constant”: “User Clip: Hakeem Jeffries Closing Argument,” C-SPAN, February 3, 2020. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4851756/user-clip-hakeem-jeffries