Former VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Government Service
The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
