The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
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 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
