One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Political Career
The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like 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, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 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."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
