The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
