Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Political Career
The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty