One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Time in Office
The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, 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 shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty