The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially 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 chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
