Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Time in Office
The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
