Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service
The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet 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 area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication 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 emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
