One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Government Service
The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion 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 attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
