The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction 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 session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
