The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied 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 no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
