Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Time in Office
The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist'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 background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
