Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service
The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
