The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured 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. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering 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 stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept 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 malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
