Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Government Service
The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker'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 corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
