Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Political Career
The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
