Former VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Political Career
The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary 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 Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
