The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
