The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks 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 September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
