Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office
The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked 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 declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
