Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Political Career
The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
