Former US Vice-President Dick Cheney dies
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Life is better with a story. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Andrew Peach, and at 16 Hours GMT on Tuesday 4th November, we look back at the life of the former US Vice President Dick Cheney, who's died. Sudan's military reviews its security situation after its last stronghold in Darfur was seized by paramilitaries. And New York chooses a new mayor. Also in this podcast, archaeologists in Kenya find evidence that the earliest humans passed down technology through thousands of generations. And... One day, these cubs will be able to leap six metres and ambush their prey. But that day is a long way into the future. Drama and predators at a watering hole in Zambia. The former United States Vice President Dick Cheney has died at the age of 84. Mr. Cheney served two terms during the presidency of George W. Bush.
Often described as one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history, he was a leading light of the so-called neocon conservatives who dominated U.S. politics at the start of the 21st century. He'll also be remembered for the role he played in orchestrating America's controversial war on terror. In a statement, Mr Bush said Dick Cheney's death was a loss to the nation and he'd be remembered as one of the finest public servants of his generation. Our former Washington correspondent Paul Adams looks back at his life. And I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office. On which I'm about to enter, so help me God. On which I'm about to enter, so help me God. Congratulations. Richard Bruce Cheney, sworn in as vice president in January 2001.
A Washington veteran returning to the heart of power after almost a decade in business. But a man whose lasting reputation would be forged in a battle that began just a few months later. In some ways, Dick Cheney was an archetype of the American West, strong, silent, more interested in action than words. He said his favourite virtue was integrity and his vision of happiness was fly-fishing on the Snake River in his home state of Wyoming. At the age of 34, after just five years in Washington, he became the country's youngest ever presidential chief of staff, serving Gerald Ford in the White House. He went on to represent Wyoming for a decade in the House of Representatives, before George Bush Sr.
appointed him Secretary of Defense in 1989. Dick Cheney oversaw the US invasion of Panama and successfully fought the first of his two wars against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. His twin associations with the Bush dynasty and Iraq would come to dominate the rest of his political career. The attacks of 9-11 and the beginning of the so-called War on Terror, a colossal challenge for a new President Bush and for the tough, taciturn man at his side, a man who, in the president's absence from the White House on that fateful day, wasn't afraid to take charge, as veteran Washington journalist Tom DeFrank recalls. Cheney was in the White House. Cheney was hustled down to the secure basement room of the White House.
and he immediately started calling people. He called the president, he called the Pentagon, he started calling the appropriate government agencies. Cheney knew instinctively what had to be done. Before long, Dick Cheney was being described as the most powerful vice president in American history. At a time of national anxiety, he expressed the kind of steady resolve Americans wanted to hear. When diplomacy fails, we must be prepared to face our responsibilities. and be willing to use force if necessary. Direct threats require decisive action. That decisive action included launching a war against Iraq, despite the lack of evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks of 9-11. Dick Cheney was among those who spoke with most apparent conviction about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
His misplaced confidence about how quickly the war might be won and his willingness to pursue America's opponents through what he himself described as the dark side made him a lot of enemies at home and abroad.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–10:22
2
What were the significant contributions of Dick Cheney during his vice presidency?
10:22–22:39
3
How did Dick Cheney respond to the 9/11 attacks and the War on Terror?
22:39–27:58
4
What controversies surrounded Dick Cheney's decisions in Iraq?
27:58–30:29