The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
