The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
