The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried 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 additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch 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 earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
