One-time VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Political Career
The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 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 credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
