The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes 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 traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
