One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Time in Office
The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired 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 announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
