The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
