One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Political Career
The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
