The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, 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 armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
