Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Political Career
The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
