The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, 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, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, 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 operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
