The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 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 recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
