Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Political Career
The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
