Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Political Career
The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend 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 merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
