The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level 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 position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
