The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were opposing views 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 position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist'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 sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
