The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt 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 reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
