One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Time in Office
The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force 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: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
