The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head 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 engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
