Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Powerful Time in Office
The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty