Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Government Service
The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling 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: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
