The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion 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 made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
