The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
