The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
