Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Impactful Government Service
The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. 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 invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
