One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service
The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
