The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response 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. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head 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 involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
