One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Government Service
The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
