The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
