Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Powerful Time in Office
The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
