One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service
The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
