Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Time in Office
The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following 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 objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
