The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
