The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
