Former VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Time in Office
The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
