The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction 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. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views 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 not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
