The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
