One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Political Career
The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired 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 objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty