The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
