Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Government Service
The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
