The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
