The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely 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 armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
