One-time VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Time in Office
The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Although many VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
