The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
