The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 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 military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
