The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
