Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Influential Government Service
The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction 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 reaction 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 school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level 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 position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
