The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer 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. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
