The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in American history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
