One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Impactful Government Service
The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
