The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
