Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Political Career
The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
