The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
