The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate 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 likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
