The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
