Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Government Service
The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea 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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
