Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Political Career
The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
