The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed 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. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions 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 reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
