The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge 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 relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices 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 observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
