Former VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Time in Office
The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
