Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Time in Office
The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
