One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Powerful Government Service
The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
