Former VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Impactful Government Service
The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
